Bolt out of the Blue Book 2: Earth
by Mysterious Prophetess
Summary: Sequel: The band of semi-unlikely friends has survived the Siege of the North. Unbeknownst to the ninjas friend and foe , their arrivals have sent ripples throughout the world. Once their effects are made known, the ripples will change the fates of all.
1. Chapter 1

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot.

**MP**: Sequel Time!

_**Bolt out of the Blue** Book 2:** Earth**_! The second part of the challenge laid down in the fanfic titled Bending the Jutsu by Son Kenshin (Who changed his name while i was still writing this on my computer. He is now known as SuperSaiyaMan12) NOTE: The Challenge did not ask for it to be split into three, I made the decision to split it.

Refresher of the challenge: Send pretimeskip Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura to A:TLA universe season 1 episode 14: The Fortuneteller and go through the end of the series and make up your own way to send them there. One must also send the Sound Four along for the ride and get snakeface and the Akatsuki involved. Because I like him, as he is awesome, I have included Gaara. Mandatory pairings are Kataang, NaruHina,SasuSaku. My additions to this are Sukka, Maiko, and GaaraXToph.

So far I have finished one third of this challenge by completing the rest of Book 1 and I have sent the mandatory people to the A:TLA universe in my own style. IF I deviate too much for SuperSaiyaMan12's tastes it'll be because that's the way the story moved me. I don't actually plan out EVERYTHING I write, so even I don't know what will happen.

I'm sure those of you who read Book 1 will notice that I put most of chapter 1 in the bonus chapter. But there were things I left out.

Now this is somewhat important. Update schedule will be as follows, this time through:

I will only be updating this story once a week. I am trying to get a job as well as get over my writer's block on this thing.

Now, without further ado (and rambling) I present the second third of my series:

**_Bolt out of the Blue_**-_Book 2_: **_Earth_**

_Ripple Effect: noun, Definition: A spreading series of effects or consequences caused by a single event_

Chapter 1: After Math

Naruto Universe (Henceforth will be called the Hurricane World)

Konoha,

Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju was still miffed at how she'd been tricked into this position. Half a year ago, her former instructor, Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage died in battle taking out her former teammate. Then her final remaining perverted teammate used the money gotten from his pornography's movie deal to pay off her debts which had her in his debt, thus she was now the fifth Hokage. However, that wasn't the least of her problems. Six months ago the heirs to two Konoha clans had vanished during a strange incidence at the Chuunin Exams along with the son of the Fourth Kazekage and Naruto Uzumaki. Konoha's older citizens, much to Tsunade's disgust, threw a festival after the damage from the botched Sand-Sound invasion had been repaired. The new Kazekage, Temari of the Desert, was willing to renegotiate a treaty because Sand had been tricked into the invasion by Orouchimaru posing as the late Fourth Kazekage, whose death didn't seem to be mourned at all.

Officially, the tasteless festival was to celebrate the end of the repairs, but Tsunade knew better. Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya had been researching the incidence without cease since the cancelation of the exams.

"Any progress?" Tsunade asked as the white haired perverted duo entered the room.

"None so far," Jiraiya reported. Despite the fact Jiraiya and Tsunade were the actually the same age, Tsunade looked far younger; the busty blonde woman looked like she was barely out of her twenties. This was all thanks to a certain purple diamond on her forehead. Jiraiya looked their shared age, though his long hair had always been white. There were signs of age in his marked face. Next to him was the young prodigy known in the bingo books as the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake, the only non-Uchiha with a sharingan eye and the son of Konoha's White Fang. His white hair, unlike Jiraiya's fought against gravity shooting upwards, his ninja headband covering his sharingan eye leaving only one brown eye visible. Kakashi was dressed fairly standard for your average jounin, though he was anything but average. Jiraiya on the other hand was dressed in a red sleeveless over robe with a green gi-like shirt, green ninja pants, and wooden sandals with a scroll on his back and a thick metal headband with the kanji for 'oil' on it. Tsunade wore a green robe with a gray kimono top that revealed a little bit of cleavage and blue ninja pants along with sandals. Because they were there on serious business, and a good bit of fear, the perverts were keeping their eyes on the hokage's face and away from her ample assets.

"With so little information on things like this we need to travel to the Land of Fruit and Flowers to search their library," said Jiraiya continuing on.

"Sure and the fact that they have the largest baths in the world never crossed your mind?" Tsunade said in a tone that said, I-wasn't-born-yesterday.

Ame,

Madara Uchiha in his guise as the moron Tobi sat as his unwitting subordinates discussed how to find the lost demon hosts. Though for all his knowledge stemming from his age, even Madara was stumped on what had happened. But he would find out, the Akatsuki had many resources, though he would focus on capturing the other remaining hosts before trying to reclaim the lost pair.

North Pole, (A:TLA Universe henceforth called Four Elements World)

Naruto saw various expressions on the faces of the members of the Northern Water Tribe as he, Hinata, and Sasuke passed, reverence, respect, revulsion, fear were most dominant and for once, the revulsion wasn't aimed at him! It was aimed at Sasuke, perfect Sasuke, because the Uchiha was a firebender, though the fear was aimed at both males of their trio. After revealing his deepest, darkest secret to both Naruto was relieved to find they didn't care about his furry prisoner, that they knew he was him and not the fox.

'**Moron, I need to warn you about something**,' the Nine-Tailed Fox said within Naruto's mind.

'What's that Fuzzball?' Naruto replied as he and the others moved to their training area.

'**This world is not like yours, and repeated usage of my chakra will risk merger**,'

"WHAT!" Naruto said aloud drawing odd looks from everyone.

"What did it say now?" Sauske asked annoyed and getting used to the random outbursts caused by Naruto replying to a comment made by his tenant.

"Fuzzy said that if I continue to use his chakra here, I risk merger," said Naruto.

"This worries you why?" asked Sasuke.

"W-wouldn't the seal make sure you're alright?" Hinata said softly, with only a slight stutter.

'**That damned seal is designed to merge my chakra with yours, not my being with yours! If we merge the seal merely guarantees that your consciousness will be dominant, but if you return to Konoha as a fox demon you'll be run out on a rail**!' the Nine-Tailed Fox said.

'You're just worried about merging with me and finishing the job the Fourth started,' Naruto said after a moment. The demon didn't respond for a moment making Naruto smirk.

'**Surprisingly intelligent of you**,' Nine-Tails sneered.

"What do you mean by that you stinking fuzzball!" Naruto snarled aloud.

"We'll be training while you talk with your tenant," Sasuke said as he and Hinata took positions across from each other, Hinata calling upon the snow to make it become water floating around her, her confidence in her bending making her stand tall for once.

"Ready?" asked Sasuke taking a firebending stance.

"Ready," Hinata responded in a normal tone.

'Wow, Hinata's gotten better at that,' Naruto thought as he watched the two other ninjas sparring. With a gust thrown at Sasuke Naruto entered the fray.

Hurricane World, The Village Hidden In Sound,

Still reeling from the loss of Orouchimaru, and licking their wounds from their botched invasion of Konoha, the Oto was a shell of its former self. Only a handful of ninjas remained loyal to the de facto replacement 'Otokage' Kabuto and that was because the glasses wearing silver haired ninja was growing more like their lost leader every day, in more ways than one. And like the late Orouchimaru, Kabuto desired the Sharingan eyes, but for a different reason: Kabuto wanted to study them to benefit Oto.

But first he needed to get more men together and find out what had happened to the 'precious' Uchiha who had disappeared in the Chuunin exams six months before. That was priority for the serpentine ninja.

Four Elements World, Gaoling, three months previous,

The hermit observed his charge, an unstable ninja who identified himself as Gaara of the Desert. Further prodding revealed he was the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage. He was not surprised at the Kazekage's plan to use his demon host son as a weapon, but the shoddy sealing done on the one tail made the hermit want to go back to the other world and shake the man.

'If you go back, you'll die, thus her sacrifice would have been in vain,' a little voice in his head said, which always put an end to any thoughts of that nature. His immediate problem was making it so he didn't have to fear the red headed ninja he had taken in over three months ago would try to assassinate him in his sleep or anyone else in Gaoling.

'You have a long ways to go for that,' he thought shaking his head.

North Pole, Present

Naruto sat on the edge of one of the cliffs that led into the Spirit Oasis.

'Fuzzy?' he asked.

'**What the hell do you want, moron**?' Nine-tails asked.

'What would happen if we did merge?' Naruto asked him.

'**You'd become a demon, whelp, lifespan and all**,' Nine-Tails said, '**Doomed to outlive those pathetic mortals you call friends grow old and die**.' If they'd been in the mindscape, Naruto would have seen a malicious smirk on the demon's face.

'Shut up! Why would I want to merge with you anyway,' Naruto said upset by the demon's words.

"Naruto?" Aang's voice said startling the blonde. Naruto looked up at his bald friend and teacher.

"Hey, Aang, what do you want?" Naruto asked.

"It's talking to you, isn't it?" Aang said hesitantly.

"Yeah, Fuzzy's bugging me," Naruto said after a moment.

'**I'm a HE not an IT**,' Nine-Tails raged only to be ignored by Naruto.

"So, the Water Tribe's keeping your rampage under wraps, they're saying that the Firenation unleashed another angry spirit when they killed Tui and it retreated after La's rage was satisfied," Aang said, "And they're not even lying."

"Oh, ok!" Naruto said in relief, "Where are the others?" asked Naruto.

"Getting ready to board the ships," Aang said.

"Ok, and thanks," Naruto said smiling at Aang who readily returned the smile.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

Until Next Week! ^_^_  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot.

**MP**: Thanks to the two who reviewed

**9tailedokami16x**: I'm glad

**drinkwaterkora**: Well I'll try in that regard but with them focusing on using bending more, their ninja skills are being neglected as a) they really don't know very many techniques to begin with being rookie genin (Lee's combo might play a role later) or b) didn't have confidence/skills in their techniques in the cases of Hinata and Naruto respectively. Though they do act more like ninja in this chapter. Gaara will show up in another four chapters. As for Jiraiya, well you'll have to wait and see ^_^ I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far. I hope I can keep it up.

On a side note: Please keep the service men and women in your prayers (or if you are non-religious in your thoughts) as they do much for their country.

Happy Memorial Day

_"Who is more foolish: The Fool or the fool that follows him?"- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV "A New Hope"_

**Chapter 2: The Avatar State**

3 weeks later,

The sextet got off of the boat they'd been riding on and waved goodbye to Master Pakku. Katara had received an amulet with water from the spirit oasis, Aang water bending scrolls, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke received whalebone knives, and Sokka received well wishes. Naruto sat looking over the edge silently as they arrived at the outpost, which was in the shape of a ring with four straight-ish wall sections shooting off.

"Welcome Avatar Aang! I am General Fong and welcome to all of you great heroes!" this was said with great respect while the group stretched out their saddle riding pains, Aang in particular was rubbing his butt. The General just continued as if he didn't see anything, "Appa, Momo, Brave Sokka, the Mighty Katara, Fierce Naruto, Deadly Sasuke, and Graceful Hinata."

"Mighty Katara, I like that," Katara said once the group had assembled into a more respectable formation, Hinata was blushing bright red while Sasuke looked indifferent.

"They called me fierce," Naruto said smirking. The group started a bit from the sounds of fireworks.

"Not bad, not bad," Sokka said. Sasuke had a pensive look on his face as he observed everything. He motioned for the other ninja's to hang back whenever General Fong had the group go the circular main building.

"He's up to something," Sasuke said. Hinata nodded and Naruto shrugged.

"Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you single handedly wiping out an entire fire navy fleet at the North Pole. I can't imagine what it feels like to handle devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility," General Fong said stroking his beard.

'Ok, this guy is seriously giving me the creeps,' thought Naruto as he looked at Sasuke out the corner of his eyes the dark haired boy nodded slightly. Naruto looked over to Hinata who also nodded,

"Avatar, you're ready to face the Fire Lord now," General Fong said making the whole group gape at the man.

"What! No I'm not!" Aang said.

"Aang still needs to master all four elements," said Katara.

"Why? With the power he possesses, power enough to defeat hundreds of ships in mere minutes, he can defeat the Fire Lord now!" General Fong as his volume increased. Naruto went to speak only to have Hinata place a hand on his shoulder and shake her head. Naruto was going to protest,

'**Do you want to get your friends in trouble with this man? They need his help to get to the Avatar's Earthbending Master safely**,' Nine-Tails said.

'What do you care?' Naruto responded.

'**I don't but you do, moron**,' Nine-tails taunted. Naruto went to retort, but realized the demon was (as usual) right so he fumed in silence. While Naruto argued with Nine-Tails Sokka, Aang, and Katara tried to talk sense into the General by explaining about the Avatar state only to have the man snap that he was 'well aware.'

"Your eyes and tattoos glow, and you gain unbelievable power. Without you we'd be slaughtered before we reached their shores. But, with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the firenation," General Fong said. It took every bit of Naruto's patience not to lash out at the General,

'My friends need this bastard, my friends need this bastard,' was chanted over and over in his head in order to keep him from yelling.

"Right, but the thing is I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State much less what to do once I'm there," Aang said uncomfortably.

"So it's decided then, I'll help you figure out how to get in the Avatar State and then you'll face your destiny," General Fong said.

"Nothing's decided. We already have a plan. Aang's pursuing his destiny his way," Katara said as the group got to their feet.

"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on," General Fong said, "May I show you something?" he led them to the window overlooking a smaller building where various wounded walked near.

"That's the infirmary, those soldiers are the lucky ones; they came back. Every day the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Aang, you could end it now! Think about it" General Fong said before he walked away, or so he tried. The ninjas were unmoved by his speech.

"It's war!" Naruto yelled angrily which made Fong stop and turn; Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from saying anything else while Sasuke took over.

"People die in war, it's unavoidable," Sasuke added coldly, "Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool."

"Then I would rather be a fool," Fong said before he left.

"Aang, don't listen to him, he just wants to use you," Naruto said. Aang didn't reply and just looked even more troubled.

Elsewhere,

The Firenation duo of Uncle and Nephew were at a masseuse, not knowing about their psychotic pursuer. Well Iroh was getting a massage after 3 weeks at sea, Zuko was being Zuko and sitting in the corner in plain peasant clothing and a hat covering his mostly bald head plotting (what else) to get the Avatar and his honor back.

Fire Navy ship,

The aforementioned psycho was Zuko's younger sister, Azula. The small girl looked like a delicate flower, but one look into her golden eyes would tell you she was not one to be trifled with. If that didn't work, seeing her bend lightning would surely let even the densest individual know of her power and how dangerous she was.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

General Fong sat behind his desk looking at his maps as the bald, tattooed, orange clad monk approached.

"General Fong?" Aang said, his gray eyes looking downwards as he spoke.

"Come in, Aang! Have you thought about our discussion?" General Fong said pleasantly.

"I'm in; I'll fight the Fire Lord!" Aang said gaining resolve as he talked.

Aang returned to the group's quarters and made his way to his bed. Naruto was already asleep and snoring. Hinata picked up on Aang's body language and sighed, glancing over to see the Uchiha had also figured out what Aang had just done.

"I told the General I'd help him, by going into the Avatar State," Aang said in a defeated tone.

"Aang, no, it's not the right way," Katara said.

"Why not? Remember when he took out the firenavy? He was incredible!" Sokka said.

"Idiots, you can't count on a berserker mode for anything," Sasuke said, "If we counted on Naruto's we'd be dead or mortally wounded before it would kick in."

"Such things are crutches," Hinata said, seeming to quote someone while looking off to the side. *coughHiashicough*

"They're right and there's a right way to do this: Practice, study, and discipline," Katara said.

"Or just glow it up and stomp that Fire Lord," Sokka said, seemingly having not heard a word of what the others were saying. Annoyed with how circular the conversation was becoming, Sasuke said,

"If you're going to be a moron, I'm going to bed," after which he turned in with a huff while Sokka angrily muttered,

"Who are you calling a moron, pretty boy!"

"Fine if you two meat heads want to throw away everything we've worked for, fine! Go ahead and 'glow it up!'" Katara said having also reached her limit.

"Katara! I'm just being realistic, I don't have time to do this the right way," Aang said helplessly.

"My cousin's teacher likes to say that it is better to be a genius of hard work than a prodigy who has it easy," Hinata said as she stood and went after Katara.

Next Day,

"While Aang wastes his time with that, let's work on our teamwork!" said Naruto.

"Wow, you said something intelligent, Dead Last," said Sasuke.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled, "I swear you're as bad as Fuzzy!" all the while the blonde ignored mental chuckles coming from his tenant.

"N-Naruto, are you going to join us?" Hinata asked as Sasuke walked towards the walls of the compound they were in. After having walked up, over, and down the walls to the forest the group stood waiting for someone to go first and take charge.

"I overheard some of the soldiers talking about Firenation patrols nearby," Sasuke said.

"Awesome!" Naruto said as they continued through the trees, ninja style. Though because of their garb, the trio actually blended in fairly well: Sasuke in dark red and black, Naruto in green and brown, and Hinata in blue and black, anyone seeing a glimpse of her in the trees might think she was a patch of sky or a bird.

In a seaside shack,

Zuko and Iroh returned to their hut after a day on the beach,

"Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come," Iroh said happily.

"We don't need any more useless things! You forget, we have to carry these things ourselves now!" Zuko said exasperated.

"Hello, Brother, Uncle," said a girl's voice which set both firebenders on edge. The pair regarded the petite, red armored form before them warily.

"What are you doing here!" the scarred exile asked.

"In my country we exchange a pleasant 'Hello' before asking questions. Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zu-Zu," Azula said as she stood.

"Don't call me that!" Zuko yelled.

"To what do we owe this honor," Iroh said diplomatically.

"Must be a family trait, both of you so quick to get to the point," Azula remarked as if she weren't related to the pair in front of her while callously destroying one of Iroh's seashells, "I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind, family's suddenly important to him. There's been rumors of plans to over throw him, treacherous plots, family are the only ones you can really trust. Father regrets your banishment, he wants you home." Zuko didn't reply at first,

"Did you hear me? You should be happy, excited, grateful, I just gave you good news," Azula said.

"I'm sure you brother simply needs a moment-," Iroh began.

"Don't interrupt, uncle!" Azula screeched, "I still didn't get my thank you. I'm not a messenger; I didn't have to come all this way."

"Father regrets? He wants me home?" Zuko said in shock.

"I can see you need time to think on this, I'll call on you tomorrow. Good evening," Azula said and with that the psycho princess was gone.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

The ninjas arrived back after a few hours near sunset, having not found the patrols, but the evidence of their presence in the woods. The trio popped up over the wall startling Katara and Aang, who had seemed to have been having a heart-to-heart.

"Sorry guys!" Naruto said sunnily.

"Where were you three all day?" asked Katara as she recovered from being scared half to death.

"We were training to be a better team!" Naruto responded before the others could.

"We were scouting the woods for Firenation soldiers," Sasuke said bluntly.

"We didn't find any but we found traces of them!" Naruto said proudly.

"You mean Hinata found the traces, Dead Last," Sasuke said only to get a glare from Naruto.

"Cool!" Aang said. Katara's face faded back into her serious mode,

"I can't watch you do this to yourself, I'm not coming tomorrow. Goodnight Aang," Katara said as she left. Aang visibly drooped and replied,

"Goodnight."

"What's going on?" asked Naruto.

"He's training with that General, remember?" said Sasuke as Aang too walked away.

"Oh, I wonder if he's ever going to realize this guy is full of BS," Naruto said as the ninjas followed suit. Hinata stopped, suddenly and activated her byukugan to sweep the area and she saw General Fong approaching her from behind.

"General Fong," she greeted politely without turning.

"Hinata, is it true that you can utilize pressure points to render someone unable to fight?" asked General Fong, slightly unnerved by Hinata's ability to tell who he was without looking. Hinata returned her vision to normal and turned to face him.

"It is my clan's fighting style," Hinata said carefully after all, at home, it was fairly common knowledge.

"Where can I find others of your clan?" asked General Fong eagerly, seeing visions of whole squadrons of people able to take out firebenders with a few well-placed hits.

"I am sorry, General, I am not allowed to reveal the location of Konoha to outsiders, to do so is treason," said Hinata softly. It was something the three ninjas had all agreed to if someone outside their group asked about their home, "I'm sure you can understand."

"I can," said General Fong disappointedly. Hinata bowed her head to him before she went to bed herself.

The Seaside Shack,

"We're going home! After three long years, it unbelievable," Zuko said excitedly.

"It **_is_** unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything," said Iroh pensively staring out the window.

"Did you listen to Azula? Father's realized how important family is, he cares about me!" Zuko said.

"I care about you! And if Ozai wants you back, well, I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine," Iroh said throwing his hands forwards lowering them. Zuko turned his back to Iroh.

"You don't know how my father feels about me! You don't know anything!" Zuko said sounding every bit the spoiled prince. Iroh looked down,

"Zuko, I only meant that in _our_ family, things are not always what they seem," Iroh said trying to placate his nephew, it didn't work and the seventeen year old turned around and lashed out at his uncle,

"I think you're exactly as you seem: A lazy, selfish, shallow old man who's always been jealous of his brother!" Zuko roared before he stormed away not seeing his Uncle's hurt expression.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

Aang awoke from a nightmare of his Avatar State for the second time,

"Sokka, Sokka wake up!" Aang whispered.

"Huh?" Sokka said,

"I don't think we should be trying to bring on the Avatar State anymore," Aang said.

"About time you realized that," muttered Naruto grumpily as Aang had woken him up too Aang rolled his eyes at the grumpy blonde's words.

"Are you sure," Sokka said choosing to ignore Naruto.

"Yes," Aang replied.

"Ok," Sokka said.

"Do you think the General will be mad?" Aang asked.

"You're the Avatar, who knows better than you?" Sokka said.

"Famous last words," Naruto muttered as he tried to get back to sleep.

"Who asked you?" Sokka said.

"Knock it off all of you," Sasuke growled from his bed.

"Whatever, princess-ack!" Sokka said as Sasuke threw his pillow at the older boy, it hitting him dead in the face.

Seaside Shack, stairs,

Iroh put on a front to make Zuko happy though, he acted like he was happy to return with his questionably sane niece, he still glared at the boat with mistrust. After all, he knew Ozai better than his nephew thought.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

"…I don't think we'll be able to trigger it on purpose. So, I guess that's it," Aang concluded before the general with Sokka, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke present. Katara in the room by herself out of protest not knowing Aang wasn't going through with it anymore.

"Sure I can't change your mind?" said General Fong.

"I'm sure. I can only reach the Avatar State when I'm in genuine danger," said Aang.

"I see. I was afraid you'd say that," the General said which put the three ninja on edge and they reacted just in time to avoid being grabbed by the guards or flattened by the desk. While they were busy avoiding guards the General advanced to the window yelling the order for an attack on Aang.

"Shadow Clone!" Naruto yelled making about fifty Naruto clones.

"Go help Aang!" Naruto instructed the clones who nodded and dashed out the window while Hinata and Sasuke easily took care of the guards holding Sokka.

"Let's go!" Sokka said as he ran for the stairs while the ninja's used the window to exit walking directly down the wall.

Outside,

"You can't run forever!" the crazed general said as he used ring made of stone to drag Aang towards him,

"You can't fight forever!" Aang replied.

Fire Navy ship,

As they walked down a row of guards, Iroh regarded them with a wary eye not once taking his eyes off them, even when he bowed politely to greet his niece. Then the captain had a Freudian slip of the tongue,

"We're taking the prisoners below," and he froze. Silence and shock ruled for a few moments before Iroh made his move and began to take apart their escort leaving Zuko to take out the captain.

"You lied to me!" Zuko roared.

"Like I haven't done _that _before," Azula replied as she slid behind her men.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

Aang dodged dropped stone rings while Sokka and Katara met up at the base of the stairs, the three ninjas already doing their best to take on the troops, the weapons and stones destroying the clones easily.

"What's going on?" Katara asked.

"The general's gone crazy! He's trying to force Aang into the Avatar State!" Sokka said as he threw his boomerang which hit one earthbender and sliced off the top of a polearm. Katara jumping in with her waterbending and seeing Hinata freeze a man to the ground only to have someone else throw a rock at her. The general used earthbending to sink Hinata into the ground which caused her two teammates to go and get her out. Meanwhile Sokka managed to get control of an ostrich horse.

Aang was behind them on the stairs,

"You might be able to dodge all their attacks, but she can't!" the General said as his men angled their stone rings at Katara. Sokka charged his ostrich horse at the general after he made Katara's water into mud only to get stuck in a ring.

"Scumbag!" Naruto yelled zipping over and punching him in his rage failing to notice an attack meant for him knocking him out. Sasuke got Hinata free only to have Fong sink them into the ground to keep them from moving. Then, to goad Aang's anger, after Aang jumped down to protect Katara, Fong sunk her completely beneath the ground. Long story painfully short, Aang went into the Avatar State, and he was pissed.

Fire Navy ship,

Iroh had taken care of most of the guards on the dock and yelled for Zuko to leave. But the prince was determined to pick a fight with his sister. Insane as she might be Azula was nothing if not a talented firebender: born lucky, as described by Zuko himself. The battle was one sided and then Azula began to use lightning. Luckily for Zuko, Iroh appeared in the nick of time and diverted her electrical attack before tossing her royal butt into the water.

Earth Kingdom Outpost,

General Fong was learning the hard way that berserker states mean no conscious thought. Avatar State Aang sent waves of destruction through the outpost via earthbending, though on the plus side the waves freed the two trapped ninjas from the ground. Roku showed up and took Aang on a spiritual ride to explain to him the strengths and weaknesses of the Avatar State. It was a defense mechanism that allowed him to use all the power and knowledge of the previous Avatars. But should he die in this state, he would break the chain of reincarnation making him the last Avatar.

"I hope you never have to see me like that again Katara," Aang apologized.

"That was almost perfect! WE only need a way to control you when you're in that form!" General Fong said.

"You're insane," Aang said deadpan.

"Oh well, we'll figure that out on the way to the fire nation-," Fong said.

BONK! Sokka had knocked him out while riding the ostrich horse.

"Anyone got a problem with that?" he asked. The shaken earthbenders shook their heads. Naruto woke up as they asked if the group still wanted an escort to Omashu.

"Like Hell!" Naruto yelled.

"I think we're all set," Katara said after she used some water to freeze Naruto's mouth shut.

With that thy flew away,

"HMMMMMMUMM!" Naruto yelled pointing to the ice on his mouth which had Hinata laugh a little while blushing before she used her waterbending to remove the ice.

"Why'd you have to do that!" Sokka complained.

"Keep it up and you'll be next!" Katara threatened her brother which had everyone else laughing.

"Please do," Sasuke said.

Firenation Outpost,

"Anyone caught harboring these two fugitives with incur the wrath of the Fire Lord himself!" Azula said holding up the wanted poster of Zuko and Iroh,

Forest nearby,

Zuko and Iroh ran for their lives and stopped by a river. Zuko pulled out a knife with writing on it. After staring at it he sliced off his ponytail before handing the knife to Iroh who cut off his topknot. Both firebenders let their hanks of hair, black and gray, float away in the water as a way of accepting their status as fugitives.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

I will see you in a week barring any complications.

Oh and though I will have fixed this I made a blooper in chapter 1! Jiraiya's headband has the kanji for 'oil' on it not 'sage.' Sorry! I got mixed up.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot.

**MP**: Thanks for reviewing!

By the way thank my older brother for having a birthday for getting this chapter a full two days early. Mind you, chapter 4 will be posted on Sunday of the following week. But now onto something that is important.

The family computer has decided to stop working(which is actually my older brother's. But he can't have it where he's at. So, we're using it at the moment with his permission because the actual family computer is a piece of crap). As the non-evil twin, my parents asked to use my laptop until the other computer can be resuscitated. This means that there is the possibility that there will be delays with updates. And the longer that computer is down this moves from possible closer to probable is why I gave advanced warning just in case.

**drinkwaterkora**: I'm glad you liked the details, I was afraid I was going Tolkien-ish sometimes (read, drowning the reader in details) so warn me if I go overboard. And now the Gaara count down is down to 5 including this chapter

**Paper Planes**: Good to hear from you again and I'm glad that you like the greater amount of detail. As far as the challenge is concerned I am almost finished with its mandatory requirements aside from seeing this through the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This means if I so desired I could bring in Deidara (Though I'm not, My Akatsuki choices will be revealed in time). As for Gaara, well I don't write insane very well so my Gaara might end up coming off as Sai-ish. And what I did might be considered lame so I'm giving you advanced warning.

**TheRealMoleSandwich**: May I just say that your name is awesome. Toph is my favorite as well. When I saw 'The Blind Bandit' I said out loud that I had a new favorite character. As far as Naruto's concerned I'd say it's a toss up between Minato and Hinata for my favorites. Gaara will be showing up in the Earth Kingdom in four chapters (or five if you count this one). Though wouldn't he technically be a sandbender already? I'm also glad you like my decision to make some Naruto characters benders. This was actually done so that the Avatar characters had even footing. Over all I'm glad you liked my story enough to review it.

Now time for a quote to start the chapter;

_**Raditz**:Heh it took a while but I finally found you, Kakarot  
><strong>Goku<strong>:What?  
><em><strong>Raditz<strong>_: That's right, that's your name  
><em><strong>Goku<strong>_:What?  
><em><strong>Raditz<strong>_: The name you were given before we sent you here to this planet  
><em><strong>Goku<strong>_:What?  
><em><strong>Raditz<strong>_: You hit your head as a child didn't you?  
>-flash back, pause-<br>**Goku**:What?_

_ -Dragon Ball Z Abridged  
><em>

**Chapter 3: The Cave of Two Lovers**

"Are you two going to be done soon?" Sokka complained.

"Like you're ready to go to Omashu right now, naked boy," Katara said to her brother who was floating on a giant leaf in his underwear.

"I can be ready in two minutes, no big deal," Sokka said.

"And I win today's bet," Naruto said to Sasuke who was on the shore practicing breathing for firebending near Nartuo who, along with ten clones, was doing likewise for airbending.

"It was a sucker bet," Sasuke muttered. Hinata was just in front of them water walking and practicing her bending too, Katara having set her to learn something off a scroll while she worked with Aang on his octopus form. After all, Hinata was, according to Pakku, a few steps below master with her work ethic. Hinata got an idea and used two tentacles of water and yanked her fellow ninjas into the water.

"Hey!" Naruto sputtered ringing out his green shirt while Hinata giggled. Sasuke got out and used firebending to get dry.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said as she smiled before she used her waterbending to remove the water from Naruto's clothing. Then they heard music approaching. Hinata began to blush and ran to where her blue robe was stashed and had it back on before the nomads appeared.

"And who are you!" Sokka demanded after Aang had established they were just people.

"I'm Chung, this is my wife Lily. We're nomads, content to go wherever the wind takes us," the pipa playing nomad in the lead said.

"Really, because I'm a nomad," Aang said excitedly.

"I'm a nomad too!" Chung said.

"You just said that," Aang deadpanned while the others just shook their heads.

"Right. Nice underwear," Chung said as Sokka used Momo to cover himself and he crab walked away making Naruto laugh at him

Somewhere else in the Earth Kingdom,

Iroh stared intently at a white and pink flower wearing all green as Zuko came out of the brush throwing a tantrum, "I wasn't meant to live like a fugitive, this is impossible!" as he rubbed his hands through the stubble on his head.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko asked.

"You are looking at the rare White Dragon Flower bush, whose leaves make a tea so good it's heartbreaking. Or it's a White Jade bush that's leaves are poisonous," said Iroh.

"Uncle, we need food, not tea!" Zuko said, "I'm going fishing," and with that Zuko left in a huff while Iroh mulled it over,

"Delectable tea or deadly poison."

With Aang, Naruto and Company,

The nomads began braiding Appa's fur as Sokka went to change and they'd already endeared themselves to Aang (not hard to do!) though they'd annoyed both Naruto and Sasuke. Hinata and Katara were letting the wife of Chung, Lily, put flowers in their hair.

"I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara's busy I guess it's up to me. We need to get to Omashu, so no sidetracks, no nightcrawlers, and definitely no rainbows," Sokka said earning a look from Katara from the 'wet blanket' statement. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah!" Naruto said joining him

"Sounds like someone's got a case of destination fever! You're worried too much about your destination," Chung said.

"It's less about the where and more about the going," said Lily yanking Katara's hair.

"Oh-Ma-Shu," said Sokka irritably.

"Sokka's right, we need to get Aang to King Bumi so Aang can learn earthbending somewhere safe," Katara said.

"Sounds like you guys are going to Omashu," said Chung.

"Are you deaf or just dumb?" Naruto asked.

"And you have room to talk, Dead Last?" Sasuke said.

"Shut-up, Bastard," Naruto snapped back.

"Why are they singing?" Naruto asked Sokka.

"Something about a legend as old as earthbending," Sokka said. After they finished and Aang, Katara, and Hinata applauded Sokka was quick to say,

"I think we'll stick with flying. We've dealt with the firenation before, we'll be fine."

"Yeah, thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground and we have to do what makes Appa most comfortable," said Aang smiling.

One firenation barrage later that had even the ninjas frightened,

"Secret love cave, let's go," Sokka said as he and the others trudged along, covered in soot, even with Sasuke's best efforts to deflect the fireballs.

Of course once they were near the caves did the nomads reveal it wasn't 'a' tunnel it was a _maze_ of tunnels and if one didn't believe in love they were doomed. Seeing the firenation was too close behind them, the group pressed on. The equally superstitious firenation blocked the tunnel trapping them in.

With Iroh and Zuko,

Zuko returned with the most pathetic fish ever on a really long stick.

"Remember that plant I showed you earlier," Iroh said,

"You didn't," Zuko said,

"I did, and it wasn't the white dragon bush," said Iroh scratching at his rash, "If the rash spreads to my throat I will stop breathing." He then showed Zuko the berries that might or might not help which led to Zuko yelling at him.

"We need to get help," Zuko said.

"But where can we get help, if the Earth Kingdom discovers us they will kill us and if the Firenation discovers us they'll hand us over to Azula," Iroh said. The duo exchanged looks,

"Earth Kingdom it is," Zuko said.

Cave of Two Lovers,

Appa was freaking out, and Sokka thought up a plan to try to solve the tunnels like a maze by drawing a map. With only approximately ten hours of light, they were going to have to be careful.

"Hinata, can't you do that cool eye trick?" Naruto asked.

"My byakugan," Hinata said, "Of course," Hinata said as she made the hand signs to activate it.

"Wait, let's see if we can solve this without that," Sokka said holding up a hand.

"Alright," Hinata said as she released the hand sign.

"If we die, I'm blaming you," Sasuke said glaring at the Water Tribe boy.

Earth Kingdom Village,

"You two definitely aren't from around here. We know better not to go near the White Jade much less make tea from it and drink it," a young girl said as she applied cream to a very puffy Iroh. After floundering for a bit, Zuko used the name 'Lee' and gives Iroh the name 'Mushi.' Though Iroh retaliates and said that Zuko is called 'Junior' because his father is also 'Lee.' The girl identifies herself as Song and invited them to dinner.

Cave of Two Lovers,

"You led us to another dead end," Katara complained,

"Can Hinata use her bygugan now?" Naruto said.

"Byakugan," Sasuke corrected.

"Yes because this is the same path we just came from, which means the tunnels are changing," Sokka said.

"AHH! The tunnels are changing!" Chung said in a panic, "I knew we shouldn't have come here."

"Yeah if only we had listened to you," Sokka said angrily.

Song's House,

Small talk was awkward, especially after Song asked,

"Is your father fighting in the war?" Zuko was silent,

'No, my father is causing the war,' is what he thought, what he said wasn't too far from the truth,

"Yes."

Cave of Two Lovers,

What happened at a two way split was a series of accidents, a wolfbat dive-bombed them, a torch was used to attempt to get rid of it, and the fire hit the flying bison who caused a cave in trapping Naruto, Hinata, Aang, Katara, and Appa in together in one tunnel with Sasuke and Sokka trapped with the nomads and each other in the other tunnel to their own dismay.

Song's House,

Zuko sat on the porch looking into the night.

"The Firenation has hurt you," Song said after she sat next to the scarred teen and reached a hand towards his scar. Zuko blocked her hand and Song looked at him sadly before rising slightly.

"It's Ok, the Firenation has hurt me too," Song said revealing the burn scar on her leg rendering Zuko without a response.

Cave of Two Lovers, Sokka, Sasuke, Momo, & the nomads,

After annoying Sokka to the brink of his sanity one of the other nomads complained,

"You keep leading us to dead ends man!" Moku (the fat guy in pink and white) said.

"At least I have plans!" Sokka said.

"We're supposed to be coming up with plans?" Chung said. Sokka smacked his forehead with his palm for the third or fourth time.

"Yes!" Sokka said.

"Wow cause I've had one for about an hour now. You know how the curse said we need to trust in love?" Chung said, "Well I thought if we keep singing love songs, we'll be able to find out way!" SMACK!

"You're going to give yourself a concussion at this rate," Sauske remarked.

"I don't see you putting forth any ideas, pretty boy, and we only have eight hours of light left!" Sokka said.

"Wrong, we have more than that," Sasuke said making a fireball appear.

"I think that kid's a firebender!" Chung said which caused Sokka to smack himself on the forehead again as the nomads began to sing again. Sasuke merely covered his ears,

'I'd like to have the Dead Last here as opposed to this,' the brooding ninja thought irritably as he thought about possible ways out of an ever changing tunnel system,

'I almost wish I was an earthbender.' He thought.

Cave of Two Lovers, other tunnel,

"Hinata!" Naruto said as he tried to wake Hinata who'd hit her head when the collapse occurred.

"She's ok, she's just unconscious," Katara said to calm Naruto down, as she could see red leeching into his irises. It worked, but the blonde picked up his unconscious teammate and held her in his arms.

"We've still got each other," Aang said trying to lighten the mood.

"And less than an hour of light left," Katara said as they pressed onwards.

"We'll be fine so long as we trust in love," Aang said as he blushed and looked away from Katara.

Song's House,

"Here is some left over duck for your journey. I've never seen anyone appreciate my cooking with as much gusto as you," Song's mother said as she handed a wrapped package to Iroh.

"Lots of practice," the older man said rubbing his round belly while Zuko just walked away.

"Junior, where are your manners. These people have just shown us a great kindness," Iroh said. Zuko stopped and bowed,

"Thank you," he said before he turned to leave.

"I know you think there's no hope in the world but there is! The Avatar has returned," Song said. Zuko stopped dead.

"I know," he replied.

Cave of Two Lovers, Aang, Naruto, Katara, Appa, and Hinata,

"Look the exit!" Aang said excitedly pointing to a round door in the tunnel up a head.

"Awesome!" Naruto said as he set Hinata down before he joined the others in trying to budge the door. Then they saw Appa backing up which led to Naruto diving out of the way while scooping up Hinata.

"This isn't an exit, this is a tomb," Katara said looking around.

"Look, it's the Two Lovers!" Aang said pointing to the two stone coffins.

"These pictures tell their story," Katara said pointing to the writing. She read aloud that the two lovers were from warring villages and met on top of the mountain. They then learned earthbending from the blind badgermoles and became the first earthbenders and made the tunnels so that they could meet and any pursuers would perish. Then the man died in the war leading the woman to unleash a large show of her earthbending powers but instead of destroying them as she easily could, she instead ended the war and they built a new city in which they could live together. Her name had been Oma, his had been Shu. The city was named Omashu as a monument to their love.

"That story bites," Naruto muttered shifting his grip on Hinata.

"It says here, Love is always brightest in the Dark," Katara said pointing to an inscription on the wall between a carving of the two lovers.

"I wonder what that means?" Aang said blushing while looking at Katara.

"Well I have this crazy idea," Katara said looking away from Aang.

"Spill!" Naruto said.

"What is it Katara," Aang said irritated.

"Well you guys know how the curse says we have to trust in love to get out right?" Katara said.

"Yeah," Aang said.

"So?" Naruto said.

"Well that hint says love is brightest in the dark, and they were kissing so I thought maybe if I kissed one of you…," Katara said.

"Us kissing?" Aang said.

"Count me out," Naruto said shaking his head, shuddering as he thought of his first and only kiss.

"I know it's completely crazy, what was I thinking," Katara said.

"_Us kissing_," Aang said dreamily to which Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Us kissing," Katara laughed embarrassedly.

"Yeah, why would I want to kiss you," Aang said trying to play along. Naruto winced, despite having limited social skills even he knew that Aang had just upset Katara.

'It's like watching Ino and Shikamaru interact,' Naruto thought as Aang put his foot further in his mouth as he tried to back pedal, and then put his other foot in his mouth when he said something about kissing Katara or dying, 'The only thing missing is Aang saying that it's _troublesome_.'

Song's House,

"Zuko, what are you doing, they've already showed us kindness and this is how you repay them!" Iroh hissed as Zuko stole Song's ostrichhorse.

"They're about to show us some more kindness," Zuko said as he helped Iroh get on. Unaware that a sad Song saw this and closed the door with a depressed look on her face.

The Cave of Two Lovers, GAang minus Sokka, Momo, and Sasuke,

"The torch is almost out!" Aang said. Katara looked over at him and the pair almost kissed when the torch went out, only to have the roof of the cave reveal itself to be naturally luminescent.

"Wow, it glows in the dark!" Naruto said.

"Love shines brightest in the dark," Katara said with a smile.

"N-naruto? Wh-why are you holding me?" Hinata's voice said.

"Hinata! You're ok!" Naruto said brightly.

"I-it was just a small bump," Hinata said as Naruto set her on her feet.

"We almost found the way out, all we have to do is follow that," Naruto explained pointing to the glowing crystals on the roof.

Minutes later, the group emerged into the day light, Appa running out and flopping down in relief to no longer be underground.

"What about Sokka and Sasuke?" Katara said just as two holes appeared, Sokka, Momo, and Sasuke riding one badgermole, the nomads riding another.

"How'd you guys get out?" Sokka asked after he slid off the animal. Sasuke leapt to the ground and walked silently next to him.

"We trusted in love," Aang said.

"And totally followed glowing crystals!" Naruto said, which earned a smack from Katara.

"Well we rode giant earthbender monsters out," Sokka said.

"After I was brave enough to approach one," Sasuke said.

"Thanks for everything Moku," Aang said talking to the rest of the nomads while the others were apart.

"Sokka, why's your forehead so red?" Katara asked before Sokka or Sasuke could speak Chung wandered over.

"Hey, I think that kid might be the Avatar," Chung said which had Sokka smack himself again. Sasuke smirked and said,

"Even Naruto's not that dense."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled angrily but stopped when he saw Hinata was giggling at both him and Sokka.

"The journey was long and at times annoying-," Sokka said.

"Like you," Sasuke said,

"Shut up princess-ah!" Sokka said avoiding a fireball, "Anyway now we get to what really matters, the destination. I give to you, the Earth Kingdom City of Oh-." Sokka stared at the Firenation banners all over the place, "Oh-no."

"Oh-no? I thought it was Omashu?" Naruto said scratching his head.

SMACK! Thud!

"Sokka, are you ok!" Naruto asked as he looked over the unconscious Sokka.

"I warned that buffoon about giving himself a concussion," Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"Whatever, Bastard," Naruto replied.

"Hn."

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

OK I will see you not this sunday but either the Sunday or next Friday (as it is past midnight) as I post this

Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot.

**MP**: Thanks for reviewing!

Well I feel kind of dumb: I forgot that 's time is in a timezone that's behind mine. So when I posted 3 it was in fact June 3 in my time zone but it was still June 2 on the West Coast (which appears to be the time they run on) So as all my update days are different that what I thought they were I'm just going to move the day of my update to Thursday.

In other news, my house's main computer is getting looked at so the days of my laptop doubling as the main house computer will soon be over. So Updates won't be affected after all. Also you'll not that I have the wrong countdown for Gaara's appearance in Chapter 2 so two chapters in a row I say the same number. This is because I'm a musician and have trouble counting past four.

Now onto some not so good news: I'm writer's blocked on the rest of this. I mean I know what I want to do but when I pull up the document to write I just can't. I'll try to get past this (as this happens to me a lot) as fast as I can.

**drinkwaterkora**: Well I hope my Gaara lives up to your expectations, but he won't be here for another three (or four if you count this one) chapters. Also, thanks for the compliment. I hope I don't disappoint you.

**stellacisem**: Thank you, I was worried the pace was dragging a little. As for the rest, well, all I have to say is 'thank you for the compliment.' Now excuse me while I blush a little.

**TheRealMoleSandwich**: Aang in a dress? Well funny you should mention that...The nomads presented a chance at having a little fun. Their denseness was one of my favorite elements of that episode (my favorite part being Sokka using Momo to cover up). As for the Gaara thing, the benders in Avatar could do some gruesome things if they had desired, though this being a kids show they didn't. Gaara's sand coffin is within the realm of possibilities for other sand/earthbenders if they were insane enough and powerful enough benders (like Toph, Bumi, or Aang). Same goes for the Chidori if lightning could be controlled better. So this is a agree to disagree because the more I analyzed this, the more I realized that Gaara was technically a bender already. And you're very welcome. ^_^

**Wal Otter**:Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad I managed to rewrite the episode well. As for the ending, well I couldn't resist.

Quote and then chapter start;

_"...They will not control us...We will be victorious (So come on)!" Uprising, **Muse**_

**Chapter 4: Return to Omashu**

"So last time you were here, about four months ago, it was free but now it's not?" Naruto said.

"Pretty much. I mean I knew the war had spread far but Omashu had always seemed so untouchable," Aang said as he looked at the conquered city.

"Now Ba Sing Se is the only Earth Kingdom stronghold left," said Sokka.

"This is horrible, but we have to move on," Katara said.

"What does that mean for Aang's earthbending teacher?" Hinata asked.

"We don't have to move on. I'm going in to find Bumi," Aang said.

"It too dangerous. Aang, we know you were set on Bumi but there are others out there who can be your master," Katara said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Aang.

"You know in case Bumi's..," Sokka said.

"In case Bumi's what?" asked Aang.

"Not around anymore," Sokka said.

"Hn. He means your friend might be dead," Sasuke said cutting to the chase, annoyed by the attempts to sugarcoat it made by the siblings.

"This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend," Aang said, looking back to the others.

"I agree, friends are worth fighting for," Naruto said agreeing while fist pumping.

A short time later,

"A secret passage! Why didn't we just go this way last time?" Sokka whined as Aang began to pry it open with his glider staff.

"This answer your question?" Aang said as sewer water sloshed out. The rest of the group put on cloaks before climbing up the sewer pipe. Aang, Katara, Naruto, and Hinata were able to use their bending to keep the foul liquid off of them, Sasuske and Sokka on the other hand weren't so lucky. Aang used air to move the manhole cover and the four clean members of their party slipped out.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be," Katara said smoothing out her clothing.

"Speak for yourself," Sasuke said as he climbed out covered in sludge followed closely by Sokka. Katara saw a water barrel and nodded to Hinata. The two waterbenders sent a torrent of water at their dirty comrades followed by a gust of air sent by Aang revealing Sokka had three purple things on his face.

"AAAGGHH! THEY WON'T COME OFF!" Sokka yelled stretching them as he pulled on the ones on his face. Sasuke was creature free and was smirking at Sokka's misfortune.

"Stop making so much noise, they're just purple pentapuses," Aang said though this didn't stop Sokka's freaking, so Aang tickled one making it squeal and curl up its tentacles rendering it removable. Sokka rubbed his cheek and removed the other as Aang was removing the third a guard patrol showed up making Aang think fast and use his belt as a hat while Naruto pulled his hood up.

"What are you doing out after curfew!" the lead guard demanded.

"Sorry! We're just going home," said Katara thinking fast while the others began to walk away.

"Wait what's wrong with him!" the guard asked pointing to Sokka's sucker marks.

"He has Pentapox," Katara invented, "It's highly contagious!" Sokka got the cue and began acting sick moaning that he was dying,

"And deadly," Katara added.

"Wait I think I've heard of pentapox. Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" said one guard.

"Let's leave and wash our hands!" said another.

"Don't forget to burn your clothes!" Naruto called after them.

The group slunk through Omashu as stealthily as possible.

"Where would they be keeping Bumi?" asked Sokka.

"Somewhere he can't earthbend. Somewhere made of metal," Aang said as they continued through the city.

The ruling Firenation family of Omashu was walking through the city just below some of the shoots. Unbeknownst to them (but beknownst to us),* the Resistance was about to send boulders rolling their way. Also in the mix were our heroes walking around looking for Bumi. They saw the boulders rolling down about to flatten the people below and Aang acted quickly saving the lives of those on the lower level only to have it backfire and the troops escorting the Governor and his family attack the wrong group.

"The resistance!" the wife yelled. Her bored eldest child, Mai, led the assault with her skillful throw of arrow like projectiles at Aang who dodged the while the others ran. Katara and Naruto were the rear guard, Katara using water to block the guards while Naruto used Air to send any other projectiles flying. Mai threw a set at Katara, who blocked with an ice shield and ran with Mai jumping over it. Then the Fire Nation girl had to dodge a hand full of ice senbon needles thrown at her by Hinata and Sasuke.

"Watch it!" Naruto said yanking one out as he used air to catch up. Aang saw scaffolding and used air to bring it down and block Mai's path, but not before she got an extra knife thrown which Aang caught in his glider staff. Then the ground literally dropped from under them as a slab moved to replace it. Mai sighed, bored, and left the wreckage.

Underground,

The gang was surrounded by earthbenders, with one particularly large one in front of them. The group got up and Aang, after a while, asked,

"So is King Bumi with you guys?" Hinata winced when she saw the change in body language, Sasuke and even Naruto had noticed too that the King was not a topic these people liked to discuss. But something else held the blonde ninja's attention.

"SAKURA!" he yelled running over to the partially pink haired ninja wearing a green and white dress like any other citizen of the Earth Kingdom.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as she hugged him.

"SASUKE!" She said as she hugged him too and then she noticed Hinata who smiled and Sakura gave her an equally big hug.

"What happened?" Naruto asked pointing to Sakura's hair.

"Don't ask," Sakura said she said. She'd cut it short in the hopes that the rest would wash out but the pinket only had pink roots at this point, "Hinata, you landed in the Water Tribe right?"

"Right," Hinata said picking at her blue robe.

"How did Sasuke get to you guys if he landed in the Fire Nation?" Sakura asked pointing to his red and black clothing.

"I landed with a group of deserters," Sasuke said after Naruto nudged him,

"And I landed near the Avatar," Naruto said smiling brightly.

"Really!" Sakura said.

"Hey you four, quiet down!" said another person as Sokka had begun announcing his plan.

"AHHGG! Another one!" Sokka said as the group walked forwards and revealed Sakura, who'd managed to save her Konoha headband.

"Yup, this is Sakura!" Naruto said smiling.

"Pleased to meet you," Sakura said, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Sorry about him. I'm Katara, this is my older brother Sokka," Katara said shoving Sokka to the side.

"I'm Aang," Aang said.

"Wow! I'm so honored to meet you," Sakura said.

"Err, thanks," Aang said blushing a little.

"I think I know of a way to fix her hair," Katara said after a moment, "But it'll have to wait until after we get clear of Omashu."

Buckets of pentapuses were employed to give the citizens their 'Pentapox,' though some of the little creatures didn't want to get off. One in particular didn't want to let go of Hinata, no matter how much she tickled the little bugger. Then Naruto took over which made her blush red as his hands were close to her face. Then Naruto bounced over to chatter away at Sakura and Hinata's face fell. Katara noticed and looked between the blonde and his teammate.

"You like him and he likes her?" she asked softly.

"And she likes Sasuke who doesn't like anyone," Hinata said.

"Don't withdraw now. I'll bet Sakura would help you win him if you told her," said Katara.

"Y-you really think so?" Hinata asked.

"I do," Katara said smiling broadly.

The plague worked well, a little too well for the infant son of the Govenor, Tom-Tom, through a series of mishaps involving Momo was now outside the city _with_ the refugees. Thus the extra was discovered after doing a head count. Outside the main campfire, with plants and ink from the pentapuses, Katara, with assistance from Hinata, worked to get Sakura's hair back to its proper pink hue.

"Ask her," Katara said to Hinata.

"Ask me what," Sakura asked as she prepared to use the make-shift dye on her hair.

"I-I w-would l-like y-your h-help w-with, with-," Hinata began, her index finger touching returning for the first time since she stared waterbending. Katara sighed and used a weak waterwhip to shock Hinata.

"This is why you're not a master; you have to go for it!" Katara said. Hinata took a breath and thought of her element and bending before she tried to begin again.

"Please help me get Naruto to notice my feelings for him!" Hinata said loudly. Luckily, Naruto was sound asleep several yards away.

"Of course!" Sakura said smiling, 'They'd be so cute together,' she thought.

'_**Then I'll have more time to get Sasuke to fall in love with me, CHA**_!' Inner Sakura said.

"Thank you!" Hinata said smiling.

"Let's see if this works," Katara said as she bent the dye onto Sakura's hair and held it there.

"Hinata take over, think of this as training. Keep the dye on her hair for half an hour," Katara said, 'Gran-Gran usually soaked cloth for a half hour to get it dyed so it should work the same for hair.'

"Ok," Hinata said, still blushing slightly from having yelled. She raised her hands and reached out to the liquid.

"So you're a waterbender too?" Sakura asked as Hinata held the dye.

"Yes, Naruto and Sasuke are benders too," Hinata said.

"Lucky! All I have are my ninja skills," Sakura said.

"Th-that's more than a lot of people," Hinata said.

"So what elements are the other two?" asked Sakura.

"N-naruto is an airbender and Sasuke is a firebender," Hinata said.

"Naruto's an airbender? I'd think he'd be fire cause that's flashier," said Sakura shrugging. The rest of the half hour passed in awkward small talk until Hinata removed the dye and all the moisture revealing pink hair.

"Wow, that works better than a hair drier," said Sakura rubbing her shortened hair.

Aang returned with Floppsy, Bumi's pet rabrilla, and no one else. It was then the extra was fully discovered still clinging to Momo. The baby was cute and kept trying to play with dangerous stuff but the governor thought that the boy had been kidnapped. They were willing to trade King Bumi to get the infant back. The request sent via messenger hawk and the exchange would go down at noon.

"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap, right?" Sokka said.

"I don't think so, the Governor wants his son as much as we want King Bumi," Aang said.

"It wouldn't hurt to have someone hanging back in case it goes wrong," said Sasuke.

"And we all shouldn't go," said Sakura.

"Then who should?" asked Naruto.

"Hinata and I. We're the least memorable with our more average hair colors," Sasuke said pointing to Sakura's pink hair and Naruto's blonde hair.

"Fine," Naruto pouted.

"But she chose that color!" Sokka said.

"The pink is my natural color that your sister helped fix," Sakura said growling.

"Apologize and you'll live," Naruto said suddenly.

"Apologize? Her hair's PINK!" Sokka said getting hung up on his 'weird hair color freak out' tendencies.

WHAM! The older boy was on his butt after having been punched by Sakura.

"When'd you learn to punch so hard?" asked Naruto as he went a deathly shade of pale.

"I'd read something about the legendary medical ninja Tsunade who used chakra to enhance her strength and I've been experimenting with doing something similar," Sakura said, "I've been practicing on soft stuff to make sure I don't hurt myself." Naruto smiled nervously and inched away from the pink haired girl.

The group selected to accompany Aang was there as three girls arrived. One was wearing a pink two piece outfit, darker pink portions serving as accents to the lighter pink portions. Her long brown hair in a rope like braid, her features delicate and inviting like her wide gray eyes. The girl on the right had a more dangerous beauty with golden eyes wearing red armor over lighter red clothing. Her black hair in a bun held in place by a flame shaped hairpin. The girl in the center had black hair with twin buns and pigtails coming out of a third bun on the back of her head. Her eyes were also gray, but thin and narrow. She was paler and was a more classic sort of beauty when compared to her friends. She was dressed in the same black robe, dark red shirt/pants outfit with fingerless gloves as the last time they'd met. As the trio of Fire Nation girls walked forwards a metal coffin-like box was lowered with Bumi cackling inside of it. He was placed behind the trio.

'That's the King of Omashu?' Sasuke wondered, he looked over to see Hinata had a similar puzzled look on her face.

"You brought my brother," Mai, the girl in the middle asked.

"Yes. We're ready to make the trade," Aang said as Tom-Tom played with Sokka's face.

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me, do you mind?" the girl on the right said.

"Of course not, Princess Azula," said Mai.

"We're trading a king for a two-year-old, a powerful, **earthbending** king. It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Azula said. Mai looked over at her infant brother and then back at Bumi.

"You're right," with that she strode forwards and said louder for the 'resistance' to hear, "The deal's off!" Bumi was raised into the air with a pleasant,

"See you all later!" Following this Aang took to the air and lost his head covering revealing he was the Avatar.

"My lucky day!" Azula said before she ran after him only to avoid fire being thrown by Sasuke.

"Another traitor? I'll deal with you another time!" she said as she used her blue fire to break something to gain altitude quicker. At the same time, Mai and Ty Lee were on the move.

"Get the baby out of here!" Katara instructed Sokka.

"Already on it!" Sokka said as he continued to blow the bison whistle. Tom-Tom decided he wanted to do it too and grabbed it from Sokka as he ran just before Ty Lee, underneath the platform, tripped him. Hinata used water from her hipflask to block Ty Lee while Katara blocked the knives thrown by Mai with boards she'd kicked up with her waterwhip. Sasuke retaliated with shadow shuriken that had Mai dodging while Sokka made his escape down a latter, Hinata following his retreat as his cover.

Katara was fighting Mai while Sasuke was dealing with Ty Lee, his fire and shadow shuriken/kunai jutsus keeping her back. Ty Lee broke free and nailed four hits on Katara's arms, Sasuke's eyes widened marginally before he activated his Sharingan while using the academy taijutsu to block her disabling attacks while simultaneously copying them.

"Creepy," Ty Lee said while Mai taunted Katara.

"How are you going to fight without your bending?" she said as she got out a very wicked looking knife. Then a boomerang came out of nowhere and knocked the knife from her grasp.

"I seem to manage!" Sokka as he caught the boomerang. Katara and Sasuke hopped on board while Appa flapped his tail down sending the two flying. They caught up with Aang, King Bumi, and Azula. Aang tried to get the coffin onto the saddle but he missed and the others had to get out of dodge. They found Aang again and he left without Bumi.

"I need to find an earthbending master who's mastered the art of waiting and listening before attacking," he said depressed.

"We need to get back to the refugees," said Sokka.

The incomplete statue of Ozai, _Omas-_ **New Ozai**, Earth Kingdom,

At the base gathered all three and now they had three targets to capture: Zuko, Iroh, and the Avatar.

Later Aang used his bending to get himself into position to give back Tom-Tom. His parents were overjoyed to have him back. Aang smiled before leaving silently.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

*Kudos to the person who figures out what I reference there!

Also any other pop-culture references are probably intentional

Until next time!

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself so there are probably a few mistakes that I missed because of the fact my mind will fill in things that I think are there instead of what's really there.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot.

**MP**: Thanks to those who reviewed!

**drinkwaterkora**: You'll see in two chapters (3 if you count this one) how Gaara will be. Thanks for the compliment!^_^

**YamamotoRyu**: Correct and correct. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations

Here's the quote before the chapter;

"You can't see the forest for the trees" -_Unknown_

**Chapter 5: The Swamp**

"Can he carry all of us?" Sakura asked pointing to Appa.

"Of course he can!" Aang said brightly.

"If you're afraid of falling just use chakra to stick to the saddle," Naruto said after noticing the look in her eyes.

"Did Sasuke come up with that?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, I did," Sasuke said after Naruto again forced him to actually speak. He had to listen to Sakura's fangirlish squeals for a few minutes while Naruto wanted to gag. The two boys shared a look before she finally calmed down.

"That one girl, the brown haired one, she fought using a similar technique to the Gentle Fist. She shut off Katara's chakra flow to her arms and rendered her bending useless," said Sasuke after Sakura finished her fangirl fit.

"So, Hinata's our only counter to her?" Naruto said.

"And me," Sasuke said using the Sharigan to demonstrate the copied moves on Naruto.

"Crap," Naruto said rubbing his arms.

"But what about…," Hinata trailing off and pointed to Naruto's stomach.

"That's right!" Naruto said, "Why are you-, oh, crap."

"Tell me what you're talking about, now," Sakura said growling.

"You know that whole thing about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox dying on October 10th nearly 13 years ago?" Naruto said.

"Yeah," Sakura said.

"The Fox couldn't be killed," Naruto said, "Instead the Fourth had to use a new born baby to seal the fox into to keep it from destroying Konoha. He used an orphan boy. Me."

Sakura stopped and suddenly everything made sense,

"Oh my gosh! And those idiots treated you like you were the fox!" Sakura said.

"You don't hate me?" Naruto asked surprised.

"If I sealed a kunai in a scroll it doesn't make the scroll a kunai," said Sakura in a tone that said 'duh!'.

"See?" Sasuke said.

"I guess I owe you fifty ryu when we get back," Naruto laughed rubbing the back of his head.

"Hn," was Sauske's response.

"You bet on my reaction?" Sakura asked, eyebrow twitching, Hinata sighed and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura, we might need them," she said softly.

"You're right, Hinata," Sakura said after a moment before giving the boys a dirty look. Sasuke was indifferent while Naruto shuddered.

Earth Kingdom Village,

Sitting by a cart begging wasn't something Zuko was used to and it embarrassed him the way his Uncle took to it. What really angered him was how his uncle reacted to a man who treated him poorly in exchange for a single gold coin. And the fact he used broad swords like the ones lost when the exiled prince's ship was destroyed.

Earth Kingdom, flying over the Great Swamp,

Aang was feeling the call of the swamp and so was Nine-Tails.

'**Idiot, there's something down there**,' Nine-Tails said as Aang explained to the others. Sokka began to dissuade Aang about the Swamp Calling him.

"No, Fuzzy hears it too," Naruto said.

"Fuzzy? Oh the Nine-Tailed Fox," Sakura said.

"But he's a demon! He could just be leading us somewhere to get eaten!" Sokka said.

"If I die, Fuzzy dies," Naruto said.

"Yeah but you have that red glowy mode while Aang has the Avatar State so you two'd survive but it might want to kill us or something!" Sokka said.

'**That boy gives himself way too much credit. He's not even on my radar**,' Nine-Tails said.

'He's Sokka,' Naruto replied. The others voted for avoiding the Swamp, so Aang said good bye to it and just after that a tornado hit.

"Do as I do!" Aang said as he formed a sphere. Naruto nodded and added his own. It wasn't enough and the winds ripped the riders off, even the ninjas using chakra to stick on sending Aang, Katara, and Sokka one way, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke another, with the animals going their own separate way.

Swamp-Ninjas,

The group recovered quickly and Hinata crawled onto a root before walking _onto _the murky water.

"Is that part of your bending?" Naruto asked.

"No, it's like tree walking," Sakura said, "But different. I'm surprised Hinata knows how to do that."

"Precise chakra control is necessary for the Gentle Fist," said Hinata, "It's not all that different than tree climbing only you have to use a constant amount to keep on the surface."

"Let me try," Sakura said as she got onto the root and placed a foot on the water while focusing. Surprisingly it stayed and soon she was walking on the water too. Sasuke, by use of the sharingan, was also water walking.

'Very useful,' he thought, 'But I'm sure That Man was waterwalking soon after he was walking. I still have a long ways to go.'

"I'll try next!" Naruto said. He tried and got blasted away from the water and landed a few feet away.

"This is going to take a while," Sakura said sighing while Sasuke had begun practicing firebending off to the side.

"It'd be very valuable to have him know though," Hinata said.

"I know," Sakura said.

Naruto, plus a few clones, finally nailed it at the end of the day and they began to use their newly acquired skills to find the others. Luckily, they hadn't landed too far from the other humans.

"What happened to Naruto?" asked Sokka.

"I learned how to waterwalk!" Naruto said as he walked from the water to the ground the others had found as Sokka was starting a fire. Sasuke sent a flame at the pile and sat down ignoring Sokka's indignant squawk.

"You were never going to get it started," Sasuke said.

"Yes I was, it just takes someone longer without resorting to magic," Sokka huffed.

"Can you teach us?" asked Aang trying to put a stop to the bickering. Hinata did a hand seal,

"Byakugan," she said as her eyes gained the veins denoting the activation of her bloodline.

"All of you have the chakra to do it, but only Sokka has the kind that we're most familiar with, and since we got here all of our chakras are changing," Hinata said looking at the systems.

'Fuzzy?' Naruto asked.

'**You will still be able to do your jutsus but the more bending you learn, the more of your chakra gets converted to elemental chakra. That's different from your elemental affinity in case one of your smarter comrades asks**,' Nine-Tails replied.

"Dare you to say that again, Fuzzy," Naruto said aloud.

"What did he say about the chakra," Sakura asked feeling silly.

"He said the more bending we benders learn the more of our chakra gets converted to element chakra and it's different than elemental affinity," Naruto said.

"What does this mean?" Sasuke asked.

"**It means that you'll feel more drained from using elemental chakra for regular chakra applications, and that the longer you stay here, the more elemental chakra your puny bodies will produce. The only one safe here is this knuckle head I'm sealed into because he has a constant stream of my chakra**," Nine-Tails said taking control of Naruto's mouth. The blonde slapped a hand over his mouth in shock.

"Has he ever done that before?" asked Sakura.

"It could be the accelerated integration," Hinata said.

'**She's right**,' Nine-Tails said.

"How could the swamp do that in a couple of hours?" asked Sakura.

"That's something else we need to tell you. We're in another world," Naruto said nervously.

"What? But those only exist in theory, I did an extra credit report on them at the academy and all the books say it's impossible!" Sakura said.

"Fuzzy told me and he knows a lot," Naruto said.

"Wait, 'world?'" asked Sokka.

"Like the Sprit World only theirs exists parallel to ours," Aang said, "The monks have even contacted other worlds."

"Can you open portals?" asked Sakura.

"Well no, but I can go to the spirit world and try to find a way to send you guys back," said Aang.

"That'll have to wait until after we finish helping you take down the Fire Lord," Naruto said.

"We?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm in," Hinata said finding inner strength.

"Me too," Sakura said.

"Whatever," Sasuke said.

"Awesome!" Sokka said, understanding the brooding avenger-ese for 'I'm in.'

"I'll teach him ninja skills since you three are benders now," said Sakura.

"Will we keep our bending when we return?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

'**I know a lot, emo princess, but I don't know that**,' Nine-Tails said.

"He doesn't know," Naruto said.

"Hn. I'm going to sleep," Sasuke said before pulling out a kunai and holding it while he lay down. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Naruto slept back-to-back-to-back, Hinata and Sakura doing the same.

In the night the vines came and in the early dawn hours they ripped the groups apart screaming and fighting. Effectively separating all seven of them.

Appa and Momo,

The duo might not understand humans very well but they knew enough to know these strange men in leaf clothing meant bad news. So Appa turned around and began to run for his and Momo's lives. The strange men revealed themselves to be waterbenders and used their powers to make their canoes act like speed boats to give pursuit of their claimed food.

Katara,

"Aang! Sokka! Sasuke! Naruto! Hinata! Sakura!" then she spotted a woman,

"Hello? Have you seen anyone else here. Mom? I can't believe-," Katara said as she drew closer onto to find it was a mirage and a stump, which led her to crying.

Sokka,

The mumbling warrior was hacking and slashing his way through the swamp when he saw a floating glowing form. After trying to rationalize it he saw it was just a trick of the light until he turned and saw Yue's moon form again and then she was gone leaving him to continue, freaked out hacking at the foliage with even more fervor.

Aang,

Looking around for the others he spotted a winged boar and a young, black haired girl in a fancy white dress giggling before she began to run. Aang gave chase to her only to have her elude him every step of the way, giggling all the while.

Naruto,

"Guys! Sakura! Sasuke! Hinata! Aang! Katara! Sokka!" the blonde yelled as he ran on the water. He skidded to a halt when he saw a figure wearing white robes trimmed with red flames with the kanji for 'fourth fire shadow' written on his back. His hair was blonde and spiky.

"Fourth?" Naruto said in shock as he raced over only to find it was swamp gas: Smelly swamp gas.

Sasuke,

The Avenger looked around for his lost comrades/teammates only to see a woman nearby.

"Hello?" he asked as he got closer and stopped dead.

"M-mother?" he asked as he ran over to her only to find nothing.

'I will kill That Man,' Sasuke thought more resolved, catching something on fire in his anger only to put it out with splashed swamp water.

Sakura,

"SASUKE! HINATA! AANG! KATARA! SOKKA! NARUTO!" Sakura yelled. She stopped and looked to see someone standing in the distance. It was an older woman with straggly pink-gray hair in a red Chinese styled dress over top of a white long sleeve shirt and white pants.

"Hello? Hello-Grandma G?" Sakura said,

'This is an illusion,' Sakura thought, "KAI!" she said and the image of her grandmother faded,

'**Hell yeah**!' Inner Sakura said as Sakura continued her search.

Hinata,

"NARUTO! SASUKE! SAKURA! KATARA! AANG! SOKKA!" Hinata yelled. She turned and saw a woman in white with black hair. But Hinata would know her anywhere.

"Mother!" she said running for a moment before stopping.

'This is just a trick,' Hinata thought before she looked again and her mother was gone.

Aang,

"Wait! Who are you!" Aang said as he continued to chase the girl. She stopped and Aang nearly caught up only to find she was now Katara. He collided with her which sent them tumbling into a now irate Sokka. The ninjas showed up soon after.

"What are you doing! I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka yelled.

"Well I've been wondering around looking for you!" Katara retorted.

"Me too," Sakura said,

"Me three!" Naruto said.

"Me four," Hinata said smiling.

"Me as well," Sasuke said.

"Well I was following a girl," Aang said.

"What girl? Katara said.

"I heard laughter and saw a girl in a fancy dress," Aang said.

"Well there must have been a tea party and we didn't get our invitations," Soka sarcastically remarked.

"I thought I saw mom," Katara said.

"I saw my mom too," Hinata said.

"Hn," Sasuke said.

"I saw my grandma," said Sakura.

"I saw the Fourth," Naruto said.

"We were all scared, we're hungry, so our mind played tricks on us and made us all see things," Sokka said.

"You saw something?" Katara asked.

"I thought I saw Yue. But that doesn't mean anything. Look, I think about her all the time. You saw mom, someone you miss, same for the rest of you," said Sokka.

"I never met the Fourth Hokage!" Naruto said,

"But he was a Hokage something you want to be right? So you saw him," Sokka reasoned.

"But didn't know the girl I saw," Aang said, "And all our visions led us right here."

"Where's here? The middle of the swamp?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, the center. It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here, I knew it!" Aang said.

"It's just a tree! It can't call anyone!" Sokka said.

'A**nd I'm just a fox**,' Nine-Tails said. Naruto rolled his eyes and ignored the demon, as always, missing the last part of Sokka's speech which seemed to cue the arrival of a swamp-creature made of vines with a wooden face.

It attacked and the group scattered, the creature grabbing Sokka. Hinata began to use water whips on it in conjunction with Naruto using air to slice it, while Sasuke tried to burn it.

"I think we're making it angry!" Sakura said.

'**That thing is no more magical than her**,' Nine-Tails said.

"Fuzzy doesn't think it's all that big a deal," Naruto said before the vine monster hit him and sent him flying along with Hinata and Sasuke. It was actively trying to absorb Sokka while the others tried to stop it, with varying success. Eventually, with her mastery over her element, Katara revealed the human within.

"Looks like Fuzzy was right," Naruto said as he used air to attack too.

"Why did you call me here if you're going to try to kill us?" Aang yelled at the man.

"I didn't call you here," the leaf clad bender said.

"I was flying over the swamp when something called to me telling me to land," Aang said.

"He's the Avatar, stuff like that happened to us a lot," said Sokka as the others regrouped with Katara.

"The Avatar. Come with me," the man said.

"So who are you?" asked Katara.

"Just a man who wants to protect the swamp from people hurting it like this guy with his big knife," the man said pointing to Sokka.

"See nothing mystical about it, just a man protecting his own," Sokka said.

"Oh, but the swamp is mystical," the man said, "It's sacred." Naruto walked over to the edge of the platform they were on,

"Wow," he said.

"…It's just one big tree…," Naruto heard the man say.

'**If this tree were more sentient it'd be on par with the Four-Tails**,' Nine-Tails said.

'Really?'

'**Mortals think of life forms too limitedly**,' Nine-Tails said disgustedly. Aang used the tree to find Appa and Momo along with a third group of waterbenders and that the vine man's name was Hu. Around the campfire the swamp benders revealed that they didn't really know about the two large groups of Water Tribe on the poles and remarked 'No wonder you left' once the siblings told them the poles were covered with ice and snow.

The night ended with Sokka rationalizing everything that happened, missing a vine smacking the screaming bird.

Earth Kingdom Village,

The man wielding broadswords walked through the night and heard something prompting him to draw his weapons. He slashed the air in a showy manner and then his opponent swiftly disarmed and threw him to the ground, picking up the discarded weapons. The man then finally got a look at his assailant: The legendary Blue Spirit in all his blue-and-white masked glory was there.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself so there are probably a few mistakes that I missed because of the fact my mind will fill in things that I think are there instead of what's really there.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishmoto. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot. If I owned either then would I be worrying about students loans? No I don't think so and since I am, it's pretty obvious I don't.

**Announcement**: My computer decided since the desktop computer was getting special attention it wanted some too and has gone even fritz-ie-er that usual (as my computer has been acting up for about a month now but it wasn't anything bad up until recently). While I did back up the important files (mostly my stories) there is a chance I won't be able to update on time if it turns out I need to send my laptop out for repairs. I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong with it, plus (luckily) this thing ought to still be under warranty.

About the shortness of this chapter: This episode was filler to begin with with very few, if any, important plot points occurring in it. Yes, it showcased the strength of a fully realized Avatar, but really was just a time waster. Again, I apologize.

**MP**: Thanks for reviewing last chapter, drinkwaterkora!

**drinkwaterkora**:Thank you for the compliment and by the way, Gaara will be in the next chapter. So only one more week until he's officially in the fic. ^_^

The quote then the chapter;

"Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin. " Deuteronomy 24:16 (New International Version)

**Chapter 6 Avatar Day**

"There are too many people traveling with us!" Sokka complained.

"Then I'll just fly alongside Appa, it'll be good airbending training!" Naruto said opening his glider.

"Can he really fly that thing?" Sakura asked.

"Yep! I trained him myself!" Aang said as Naruto hopped off Appa and began to fly circles around the six-legged beast making it grumble.

"That looks fun," Sakura said as she watched Naruto do aerial acrobatics with his glider.

"Hn," Sasuke said as Hinata smiled at Naruto.

"So, how long have you guys been traveling together?" Sakura asked Katara.

"Well we met Aang nearly half a year ago, We met Naruto about four months ago, Sasuke not long after. Hinata joined us at the North Pole about a month ago and now you're with us," said Katara.

"Wow," Sakura said, "Wait, you were part of the Siege?" Sakura turned to Hinata who nodded,

"Aang and Naruto were major forces for the Northern Water Tribe," Hinata said.

"Don't forget, you were pretty good too, especially after all the water benders lost their bending when the moon spirit was in danger," said Katara, "That Gentle Fist of yours took the benders down without them knowing what was happening." Hinata blushed and smiled.

"That's great!" Sakura said, catching on to what Katara was doing.

"Don't forget Sasuke, he totally owned the other firebenders," Naruto said.

"An actual compliment, I'm touched," Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"Whatever bastard," Naruto said.

"We're going to need to land and make camp," said Aang as Appa yawned loudly.

"Seems peaceful," said Sakura looking around the clearing.

24 hours and an attack from the rhinos later,

"I feel like I've lost part of my identity," Sokka moaned as he complained about his lost boomerang.

"Here's your produce Pony-tail guy," said the vendor.

"I used to be boomerang guy," Sokka whined.

"Oh shut up! You still have your machete!" Naruto said.

"And you're also the complaining guy," Sasuke said.

"Cheer-up, we can find you a new weapon," said Sakura.

"Guy's there's a festival going on!" Aang said.

"Festival? The only one I know of is the Nine-Tails Attack Memorial Fest-,oh," Sakura said noticing Naruto's slumped shoulders.

"It's ok, festivals here are fun so long as the Fire Nation isn't after us," Naruto said with a smile.

Famous Last Words.

Katara doused the burned effigies and the ninjas were ready to fight. But Aang wanted to follow the law, which included bail.

"How was I supposed to know they wouldn't take Water Tribe money?" Aang said from in his cell later.

"Look why don't you just let us bust you out," Sokka said.

"I can't," Aang said.

"Sure you can!-," Sokka said before Naruto placed a hand on his mouth.

"He means he won't," Naruto said.

"Wow, Naruto said something smart," Sakura said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that!" Naruto yelled removing his hand from Sokka's mouth.

"Look you need to save the world and you can't do that in here," said Katara.

"But I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer," said Aang.

"You can't stay here with a bunch of people who don't like you, there's a whole nation of firebenders who hate you," Sokka said.

"Oh, well I thought you were a master detective," Aang said trying to stoke Sokka's ego. Everyone else caught on and soon had convinced Sokka to solve the crime.

Looking around at the crime scene Sokka and Sasuke figured out that the temple and the statue were made of the same type of stone ergo, Kyoshi never stepped foot in that temple. Granted, Sasuke kept this to himself after Katara tried to say something and Sokka shushed her while wearing his ridiculous magnifying glass hat and blowing bubbles from his dragon shaped bubble pipe.

"That means we need to go to Kyoshi Island," Sokka said.

"Shouldn't someone stay behind to make sure they don't execute Aang while we're not looking?" asked Naruto.

"Fine then you stay," said Sokka.

"Well I can go and stay," Naruto said smirking before he made a Shadow Clone.

"Go watch over Aang," said Naruto to his clone. The clone nodded before heading towards the jail.

"That's still weird," said Sokka.

"So says you, who calls bending magic when it is an application of chakra," Sasuke.

"Can you explain bending with science?" Sokka asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said smugly.

Chin, Prison,

"Bald and have tattoos? You'll fit right in!" a big bald thug with green tattoos said to Aang who gulped nervously.

Kyoshi Island,

They arrived to cheering crowds to the ninja's confusion.

"Where's Aang-y?" a girl demanded once they saw the avatar was absent.

"Aang can't come, Koko," said Katara, the crowds dispersed. Katara approached an older man and told them about the accusations against Kyoshi.

"Kyoshi! That's crazy talk. Let me take you to her shrine, maybe something there will clear her name. Who are your friends?" asked the man.

"These are Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura, they joined our group to help us," said Katara.

They looked through the shrine and found that Kyoshi's feet were too big to have made that tiny foot print, and that she was at a ceremony dedicating the Island at sunset, giving her a solid alibi for the crime.

Chin Village,

"We've prepared a solid defense with evidence for the Avatar," said Katara.

"That's not how our courts work! I say what happened then you say what happened and then _I_ decide who's right that's why _we_ call it justice, because it's Just Us! HAHAHA!" the mayor said.

"You lying bastard!" Naruto growled as the others held him back.

"Naruto, we can't afford to bail you out, remember they don't take Water Tribe money," Sasuke said.

The trial went down as a classic Kangaroo court. IT was a joke so when Katara had Aang dressed up as Kyoshi and the Mayor said she was making a joke of Chin 'Justice' Naruto snorted very loudly which earned him a smack from Sakura across the back of his blonde head.

Then Kyoshi manifested and told what actually happened. Chin the Great was actually Chin the**_ Conqueror_** and when he arrived he demanded Kyoshi's homeland surrender. Kyoshi warned him she wouldn't sit idly by and let him conquer them. When he refused to yield or stand down Kyoshi formed the island by removing her people's peninsula from the coast using her immense powers as the Avatar. Because he refused to move, even after she stripped him with an air blast, Chin fell off the cliff once it became unstable. Basically, Kyoshi confessed.

Spinning the 'Wheel of Punishment' revealed that they were to execute Aang by boiling him in oil. That's when the rhinos, who'd attacked the group the day before, arrived to conquer the village.

"Avatar, save us!" the mayor pathetically whined.

"Sorry, but I'm to be boiled in oil," said Aang bored while still in full Kyoshi garb.

"There, it's community service, so serve our community by taking out those rhinos!" the Mayor said moving the wheel. While this was going on none of the ninjas moved to help either. Once the sentence was changed the others leapt into battle. Aang, naturally, did the most amount of damage to the enemies. Sokka found his beloved boomerang after he lost his ridiculous magnifying glass. He then used his bubble pipe to save himself as Katara took out another rider. Hinata and Naruto were working in tandem to put out the fires in the village. Sasuke had taken to attacking one of the remaining riders with Sakura.

In the end the village of Chin was saved and they'd changed their Anti-Avatar Day to a regular celebratory Avatar Day, celebrating the day Aang saved them from being conquered by the Rhinos and the food of the day was uncooked dough because of how the Avatar was **not** boiled in oil.

"This is the worst village we've ever been to," Sokka remarked as he ate his dough. Naruto, on the other hand loved the dough and ate Sasuke's portion along with Sokka's.

"How does he eat that?" Sokka asked trying not to be sick.

"He's just like that," Sasuke said with a shrug. Hinata giggled at Naruto's face while Sakura just shook her head.

"Happy Avatar Day," Katara said smiling as she ate her dough.

Iroh & Zuko,

The younger of the pair had thought over his uncle's speech on inner strength and decided he needed to travel alone to find his own way in the world. He went to leave on foot, but Iroh gave him the ostrich horse. He watched his nephew leave sadly, but he knew he couldn't change Zuko's mind.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Please review and tell me how I did and what I can fix

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself so there are probably a few mistakes that I missed because of the fact my mind will fill in things that I think are there instead of what's really there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba that's currently in for repairs and an iPad. And maybe a portions of how I transported the Naruto crew to the A: tLA universe.

**MP**: Ok as my disclaimer already said, my laptop is in for repairs. So I had to edit/proofread this chapter on my iPad (which I thought I got a great deal on before Apple went and outmoded it with the sleaker, flash-capable iPad2). After trying to do things the hard way (read: Trying to use mobile devices to edit chapters using the main site) I finally just emailed my edited chapter to myself and here it is, being fixed up on the back-up desktop.

I have yet to hear from the computer repair guys on what's wrong with my poor Toshiba (and it's been nearly a week). This may pose a problem, it may not.

Oh and the Gaara countdown is over! Also in this chapter, the identity of the Hermit is semi revealed. Though, not an approved character by the challenger, I felt I had to have him there because he is completely awesome. Since he was in a situation where a vortex would have opened, I went for it. Originally, it was going to be Jiraiya but I needed him on the other side.

Enough rambling: Here are the review responses then the quote followed by the chapter.

**Razamataz22**: I will try to improve on that as I progress further. Hopefully this one is better.

**PaperPlanes**: I am trying, and I hope this is better, though I will admit to some skipping at the end because I felt I couldn't do Toph's butt-kicking justice and the chapter was already getting longer than usual. As for Gaara's blood lust and occness, well just look at what I do and maybe you'll approve and maybe you won't.

Quote:

_"None so blind as those who will not see." -Unknown_

**Chapter 7: The Blind Bandit**

Gaoling,

"Why are we letting him waste money on useless things again?" Sasuke muttered to Sakura as Sokka bought a bag while they walked through Gaoling.

"Because if Sokka's happy he's not complaining," said Sakura.

"Come on out, Naruto!" Katara said as Naruto bought a new tunic, this new one was an autumn orange color with white sleeves. His green tunic had been burnt by Sasuke's attempt at controlling a more advanced maneuver. He almost had it, the genius he was, but lost control of it at the last second. Naruto dove in front of Hinata who had nearly gotten burned. Naruto only had an injured pride and a destroyed shirt as he could heal nearly instantly which would have been more than one could have hoped for had Hinata taken the hit even with Katara's healing skills.

"You look great Naruto," Hinata said smiling shyly.

"Great, we let him go shopping and he buys more orange," Sakura said.

"At least it isn't as bright as his clothing from Konoha," Sasuke said.

"At least you'd never wear anything so ugly," Sakura said. Sasuke walked away from her fawning to go look at something else hoping she would get the point.

Aang, meanwhile, was trying to find an Earthbending master. Things weren't looking so good, especially with Master Yu teaching a massive class and not being very effective at waiting and listening, nor teaching for that matter. Though what could be expected from a man who advertises on posters with the promise of the first lesson being "free."

Aang asked a few fellow students and heard about Earth Rumble. The boys wouldn't talk until Katara 'persuaded' them. Being frozen to walls horizontally head-to-head usually tended to help loosen one's tongue.

The prospect of illegal sports had Sokka hooked; displays of earthbending and the possibility of finding a master had Aang hooked. Keeping both out of trouble had the others going too.

Later, Secret Earth Rumble Arena, somewhere underground near Gaoling,

The crowds sat in stone bleachers arranged around a central ring in the style of an outdoor amphitheater.

"Sokka certain has thrown himself into the spirit of things," Sakura remarked as Sokka cheered for the Boulder, a very talented earthbender. Actually all the competitors were very good, some more so than others. It reminded the four displaced ninjas of the WWF that civilians were so fond of. In between rounds the destroyed ring was repaired by badgermoles ridden members of the maintenance crew. Then a familiar redheaded form appeared in the ring wearing a short-sleeved dark green tunic and white pants with worn ninja sandals. His spiky red hair looking a little shaggier, though all the ninjas except Sakura were sporting longer hair than they normally wore it back home. Naruto's hair was getting very shaggy, especially near his side burns (you know like Minato's hair).

'Where have I seen hair styled like that before?' Sasuke wondered before said teammate interrupted his thoughts.

"That's that Sand kid!" Naruto said as he pointed to the kid.

"Gaara of the Desert," said Sauske. The foreign ninja's gourd was strangely missing and he seemed saner, though he still had his distinctive black rings around his eyes and his red tattoo on his forehead.

"A Kid, the Boulder is having second thoughts on attacking a kid," said the Boulder. It did indeed look like a mismatch for the Boulder towered over the boy, and was twice as broad as him too with all of his bulked up muscles, which were mostly visable because aside from short pants and a pair of wristbands he wasn't wearing much else a la a civilian 'body builder'. The older man's brown hair was worn in a small topknot on his head held by a green band.

"Less talk, more action," Gaara said neutrally as he took an earthbending stance.

"Everyone heard the kid asking for it from the Boulder!" the Boulder said before he began his assault. Gaara seemed to do something similar to what Aang was told to look for but he then stomped the ground to bend the earth into sand and began to attack and defend solely with sand.

"He's a sandbender," said Aang pouting, "So close!"

"He's from our world," said Hinata after Aang's disappointment had passed.

"Yeah, and he comes from the Land of Wind which is a desert," said Sakura jumping.

"He's also never been hurt on a mission," Sasuke deciding to throw in that bit of information.

"Whoa," said Sokka.

"He's also unstable," Sasuke added.

"So he threatened to kill a few people, aren't you on a quest for vengeance?" Naruto said. Having heard the other boy say he wanted to kill someone at their first team meeting, as well as muttering about killing 'That Man' under his breath every so often, it was kind of hard _not_ to know the avenger's mission.

"Hn," Sasuke replied, 'With firebending, I will kill That Man and I will avenge my clan.'

"That makes the last of everyone who got sucked in!" Naruto said as Gaara won with and impressive display of a sand manipulation which consisted of Gaara forming a hand of sand flinging the Boulder out of the ring after either using his sand to deflect attacks or using bending to turn his attacks into even more sand. It had almost appeared the unstable ninja had been playing with the Boulder.

"Please tell me he's not coming with us too?" Sokka asked.

"Well Suna and Konoha are on good terms," Sakura said with a shrug.

"Look!" Aang said as Gaara was about to fight his next opponent, the reigning champ. It was a young girl, about Aang's age wearing a long cream/tan colored green belted tabard over a short sleeved green tunic and loose billowy green pants. Her black hair kept in a large bun on her head held in place by a thick green and cream hair band. Like most earthbenders she was barefoot.

"Drop the dust, Sandy, and try to take me on using earth," the girl taunted.

'He knows this girl?' the other ninjas thought puzzled.

"Very well, Lady," said Gaara respectfully.

"Geze, prepare to be stomped, Sandy!" the girl said. The announcer identified her as the Blind Bandit. What was obvious was she was in fact blind like her monkier 'The Blind Bandit' suggested. Gaara nodded before he began to fight rock with rock and put up a very good showing, but the Blind Bandit wasn't an earthbending prodigy for nothing. Then she laughed in the middle of the match alerting Aang to one thing: this was the girl from his vision and she, like Gaara appeared to be waiting and listening.

"You're getting better, Sandy," the Blind Bandit said after she'd knocked him out of the ring. Gaara got up dusting himself off before nodding to her.

After she ringed out Gaara the MC offered up 500 pieces of gold to anyone who could defeat the child champion. Of course then Aang got into the ring and the Blind Bandit sneered about there being two little girls in the ring and making fun of his lighter than air steps because he was an airbender. The monk tried and failed to get her attention about becoming his master, his lighter than air evasions making the Blind Bandit remark,

"What's your fighting name, the Fancy Dance?" Because the Bandit kept attacking Aang had to use airbending to defend himself which knocked her out of the ring, meaning he won her title and the money. While Sokka lived it up for Aang the Bandit was ticked. She stormed off following closely by Gaara leaving in a tunnel made via earthbending.

"A red haired kid with green, black-ringed eyes? He lives on the outskirts with that strange Hermit guy. Though we haven't seen that Hermit guy in a while," said an Earthbending student. They knew nothing of the Blind Bandit but Aang realized they were asking about the wrong person.

"What about a girl with a pet winged boar?" Aang asked.

"Winged boar? Well that's the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world. But, they don't have a daughter."

"We're going to find Gaara," said Naruto looking to the ninjas who nodded ascent.

"Ok, we'll try to find the girl," said Aang, "Good luck."

"Back at you," Naruto said.

"Hn," Sasuke said.

'**Be careful brat, he's got the One-Tailed Raccoon Dog sealed in him**,' Nine-Tails warned.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled.

"What'd the furball say this time," Sasuke asked.

"Gaara'a demon host too. He has the one tail," said Naruto.

"More demons and ninjas?" Sokka whined.

"We'll regroup at Appa after sunset," Aang said before they left. Katara gave the boys one last intimidating look as Sokka walked out backwards saying,

"Water tribe!"

The ninjas followed the directions to the Hermit's house (well it was really more of a small hut) and saw Gaara was meditating?

"Why have you come?" Gaara asked in a neutral tone.

"Uh, we're from Konoha and we also got sucked up into that vortex thing same as you," said Naruto speaking first which made Gaara open his eyes and look at the quartet in front of him.

"My caretaker said I need to work on my social skills," said Gaara as he stood, "Please come in." The redhead led them into the two room hut where there was evidence of Gaara living there but no one else, his gourd leaning against a wall. Gaara busied himself with heating water on the small stove in his sitting room/ kitchen, the small room to the side appeared to be where someone could sleep though it looked like it hadn't been used for a while.

"So where's the Hermit everyone talked about?" asked Sakura looking around the small dwelling

"He left a few weeks ago," Gaara said was he waited for the water to boil, "Said it was important and that he would be back in a year if things went well." silence reigned as Gaara pour the hot water into his tea pot. By this point the others had taken a seat around the battered table near the entrance. Sand hands placed tea cups on the table while a larger one held the very hot teapot.

"What's his name?" asked Naruto curious to find out who this mysterious caretaker was.

"He asked me to refer to him as Minato," said Gaara as he used his sand to pour the tea.

"We're traveling with the Avatar because we think it might help us find our way back," said Sakura. Gaara looked at them and shook his head.

"I do not wish to leave this place," he said.

"Why not? Everything we know is back home, your siblings are there!" Naruto yelled.

"You would be betraying your village if you stay," Sasuke added. (Irony full intended)

"Why would I want to go back to a village and a family that fears me?" Gaara asked.

'**He has a point, moron**,' Nine-Tails said.

"Knock it off, Fuzzy!" Naruto hissed.

"Who's Fuzzy?" asked Gaara.

"Naruto is the host of the Nine-Tailed Fox," Sasuke said after Naruto nodded at him while arguing with Nine-Tails mentally.

"I see, he is like me yet he wishes to return?" Gaara asked as confusion, surprise, and curiosity all flickered across his face fighting fro dominance. Seemingly unused to emotions the redhead resumed being virtually emotionless.

"Yeah! Because if I never return, I'll never become Hokage!" Naruto said brightly after having finally shut up his tenant.

"I believe in him," Hinata said. Sakura smiled gave her a subtle thumbs-up.

"I shall think about it," Gaara said, the 'please leave' was understood so his guests stood up and bowed before leaving.

"What happened to him? He used to seem like he was a kunai short of a holster and now he's normal," Naruto said to Sakura once they were back in Gaoling proper.

"It was probably that 'Minato' he referred to," Sasuke said.

"But I can see why he wouldn't want to return. If it weren't for Iruka or the Old Man I might be like him," said Naruto as his face turned serious for a moment.

"But you're not," Hinata said trying to encourage the blonde.

"Let's just get to Appa," Sasuke grumbled while Sakura nudged Hinata who took Naruto's hand and surprisingly the blonde didn't react. The shy ninja was blushing furiously and realized she was still conscious! They went to find Appa but he was missing.

"Shadow Clones!" Naruto said forming a familiar seal and ten extra Narutos popped into existence.

"Find Appa," said Naruto. The clones nodded and scattered.

"Aren't people going to notice?" Sakura asked.

"I was able to outrun the ANBU at home while wearing bright orange, I think my clones can escape civilian notice," Naruto said shrugging.

They found Appa at the luxurious Bei Fong Estate and managed to be allowed in as friends of the Avatar. They had missed dinner but they were offered leftovers, which the four ninjas accepted with gratitude, Naruto too after Sakura smacked him. The others went to the room they were given with Appa outside. Toph offered a truce and the two twelve year olds left to go on a walk.

"Is he safe with her?" asked Naruto.

"Come on, he's the Avatar, what's the worst that could happen?" Sokka said stretching out on his bed.

Later,

The others went to check on them anyway only to find to indents in the ground and a note.

"Lord and Lady Bei Fong," said a quiet voice. Gaara was there.

"Gaara, why are you here?" asked Lady Bei Fong surprised.

"I came by to see if Master Yu was around," Gaara said. A twitch in his lips told the other teens he was lying, but the adults over looked it.

"Toph is gone!" Lord Bei Fong said.

"Whoever took Toph and Aang left this note: If you ever want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena. It's signed Shin Fu and The Boulder," Katara said reading the note.

"Master Yu, Gaara, please help get my daughter back," said Lord Bei Fong surprising the others present that he'd ask Gaara for help.

"You're asking this Sandbender!" Master Yu said startled, "That monster!"

"I am also one of the most powerful Earthbenders around," Gaara said blandly.

"We're going with you," said Katara the others nodded.

The exchange went down as planned, well at least for the Bei Fongs. They got Toph but the greedy earthbenders were keeping Aang for reward money. Soon it was over a dozen verses eight. Not bad odds but, with only one earth bender things could get hairy. Katara appealed to Toph. Sick of hearing her father call her weak and helpless, Toph decided to get into the fight. And told the others she could take all the earthbenders, well what were left any way: Gaara had begun fighting a couple in the stands while Toph took apart the seven left in the ring. Soon everyone was down except Toph and Master Yu acknowledged she was the most powerful earthbender he'd ever seen.

Yet despite seeing his twelve year old take down several men more than twice her size, Lord Bei Fong just didn't get it and decided to protect her more for her own good.

"We'll find you a teacher Aang," Katara said.

"None like her," said Aang.

"I just figured out how to solve our traveling problem!" Naruto said before he made a clone and then it henged into a half sized Appa.

"Well that works," said Sokka as Toph ran up to them,

"My father changed his mind. He said I'm free to travel the world," Toph said.

"Let's go before he changes his mind again," Sokka remarked.

"I am coming too," Gaara said.

"Can your mini-appa carry him?" asked Sokka.

"I can use my sand to keep up," said Gaara.

"Ok, let's go!" Aang said. Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke got on Mini-Appa while Sakura climbed on the regular Appa helping Toph up.

While Toph had run away, Lord Bei Fong thought she was kidnapped by Aang (dense much?)! So he paid Shin Fu and Master Yu to bring her back.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: So here it is. Hopefully this makes up for last's chapters mediocre quality. Please tell how I did and what I can improve on.

And I'll apologize if Gaara seemed OOC. Major Mea Culpa. I'm more familiar with post Chunin exam Gaara than I am pre/during chunin exam Gaara.

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.

* * *

><p><strong>630/11**: Dang auto correct! I was typing 'playing' and the stinking iPad put in 'gluing'! Those words aren't even similar. Also aside from that glaring error I have fixed a formatting issue and another spelling error**  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop (back from the shop and they still didn't know what was wrong with it), an iPad, my smart phone and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

**MP**: Mea Culpa. I forgot to write a chapter for Zuko Alone! So in lieu of that I wrote a "Back at Konoha" chapter because we haven't seen what our heroes' comrades are doing to get them back. Oh and SPOILER ALERT for those who don't know who the Fourth Hokage was to Naruto (I sincerely doubt there's anyone who left doesn't know, but this is there just in case.)

For fun, can anyone figure out what I'm referencing in this chapter? I did it in chapter one as well but, it was _way_ more obscure there. I'd have been very surprised had anyone picked up on it.

You know the drill by now, Review responses, the quote, and the chapter,

**Drinkwaterkora**: I've heard of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, but I'm only reading Naruto at the moment. That and it's not exactly within my preferences of anime/manga. I'm glad you liked Gaara ^_^ that means I didn't screw him up.

**Razamataz22**: (looks around innocently) Minato? Whoever could you mean? Just kidding! The GAang may not run into him for a while but when they do, I'll try to make it memorable. MY thoughts on the matter are expressed by Jiraiya in this chapter about previous, non-recognition by characters that knew Minato well. *cough*Kakashi*cough*

**PaperPlanes**: Whew, that means I can stop worrying about that character's development. Minato did indeed takeover Naruto's role of 'change-Gaara-for-the-better' that and he fixed Gaara's seal so he no longer hears his "Mother" asking for blood. Of course this was after Gaara killed a couple of the town drunks...As for him visiting her house, Gaara and Toph are in a quasi Teacher-Student relationship. Gaara has sandbending mastered, but he has to work on controling actual hardened earth (namely rock). Funny you should mention the Akatsuki because here they are! Members of the Sound will be showing up soon too. Though I have to admit to pulling a Kishimoto concerning the Sound 4.

**MP**: Yep, the Akatsuki are finally involved. Though, due to the fact I don't really know the some of the other members very well, don't like a couple, and it would be out of character to send others, I'm sending Itachi and Kisame. I was going to send Konan through but I realized she wouldn't leave Pein's side. Enough babbling and onto the main event!

Quote:_  
><em>

_"There is no fate but what we make," Sarah Connors, Terminator 2: Judgement Day_

**Chapter 8: Meanwhile Back at the Ranch**

_**Hurricane World, Sun Wu Kong Library, Fruit and Flowers Mountain**, __**Land of Fruit and Flowers,**_

"I've got it!" Jiraiya said as he wrote the last chapter of his latest Come Come Paradise Book. Kakashi looked over at the book and giggled while reading some of it.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be researching how to get those lost ninjas back!" Jiraiya said whirling around to face the silver haired masking wearing jonin.  
>"I'm taking a break," Kakashi said before he grabbed another scroll and began to read it.<p>

"This is it!" Kakshi said. Jiraiya was next to him in a flash, the older white haired man leaning over the shoulder of the younger reading the scroll.

"A parallel universe! I'll be damned. If he weren't dead I'd owe Minato fifty ryu," Jiraiya said as he read the scroll.

"I'd have to eat my own mask if Obito were still alive," said Kakshi wistfully.

"Ok, let's get to work on getting those brats home. Then I'm taking the blonde one for my apprentice," Jiraiya said as he rolled up the scroll with a flourish.

"Naruto? Why?" Kakashi asked blinking in surprise, of course to the super pervert it almost looked like surprised winking.

"Are you really so blind?" Jiraiya said quirking an eyebrow.

"You mean he's…" Kakashi said his single visible eye widdening to the extent that Jiraiya thought the young man might have it fall out.

"Yes. I would have thought his mother's name and his father's looks would have been enough of a clue for a genius like you. Plus there seem to only be about ten blondes in this whole world," Jiraiya said rolling his eyes, "Though, if everyone were quicker on the uptake Iwa would have had him killed before his first birthday."

_**Konoha, Hokage Tower**_,

"How long will it take you to bring back the lost ninjas?" asked Tsunade as she looked over the scroll. The blonde was happy to hear she could finally shut up the council about the progress in retreiving the Uchiha.

"That's the thing, we have no idea. We know how to get there, but returning is the issue," said Jiraiya pointing to the scroll.

"Why's that?" asked Tsunade.

"Vortexes, like the one that pulled Team 7, the Hyuuga Heiress, and Gaara of the Sand through are formed whenever there are energy imbalances. Wherever they went has suffered a massive loss of energy. It's our conclusion that the vortex was seeking the two demon hosts and the others who were sucked in were collateral damage," Kakashi said.

_**Ame, Akatsuki Headquarters**_,

"This means that were we to send others after the two hosts, there is a chance they won't be able to return," Itachi said as he reported the same exact thing to the leader of the Akatsuki.

"Who would we send?" asked Pein.

"I will go, as I was supposed to retrieve the Konoha demon host to begin with," Itachi said impassively.

"Very well, do try to return, as we need those two hosts in order to complete our plans for bringing peace to the world. Kisame, go with him," Pein said through his Human Path. Itachi nodded while looking over at the shark man who was eating some fish quite savagely.

**_Konoha_**,

"Out of the question," Tsunade said, "If there's a chance of not returning, why should I risk more heirs of ninja clans?"

"I'm sure the council finds the other clans expendable for the price of regaining the lost Uchiha," Jiraiya said with a sneer.

"You can have Team Nine, Hana Inuzuka and one other," said Tsunade, "That's only **if** you have a way of getting back before you leave on this retrieval mission."

"Never fear! We'll take care of everything!" said Jiraiya. After the duo left Tsunade pulled out a bottle of sake and knocked back a swig.

"Tsunade?" said Shizune sticking her head in the door.

"Yes?" asked Tsunade.

"I wish to accompany the retrieval team. They are going to need a medic and you're too important to risk," Shizune said.

"No," Tsunade said looking her apprentice in the eyes, "You're too important to risk too."

_Later,_

"So that's why you want to accompany us? Sure, you can come," said Jiraiya.

"Thanks Jiraiya," Shizune said. As she left there was a popping sound that had Jiraiya looking around before he shrugged it off and went to go peep on the women's bathou-I mean prepare for traveling between one world an another.

_**Meanwhile, back at the ran- Sorry, Back with the remainder of Team Eight**_,

"Why are we stuck with this weirdo?" asked Kiba of Shino.

"Logically, with the loss of our teammate we needed a replacement squad member or risk being one ninja down whenever we were called upon for a mission," Shino said.

"What dickless was trying to say is 'Why me' in a pathetic whiny way," Sai said. Sai, the pale young man (also secretly a member of ROOT) had been tacked onto Team Eight after the loss of Hinata Hyuuga to a strange phenomenon occurring during the first Chunin exam. Sai had dark hair, pale skin, and slim build. He dressed oddly: while his pants and sandals seemed normal enough his shirt was downright bizarre, it was a belly shirt that only covered his pectorals. Aside from that he had a passing resemblance to the missing Uchiha. His lack of social skills aside he was a highly competent ninja who utilized chakra infused ink to fight. Anything he drew, he could bring to life.

"Hey!" Kiba yelled indignantly.

"WOOF! YIP!" Akamaru said.

"You tell them Akamaru!" Kiba said.

"Why does he talk to that cat like he can understand it?" Sai asked Shino who was silent.

_**Back with Jiraiya and Kakashi**_,

"Ready?" Jiraiya said. Kakashi nodded and the duo began to draw symbols. It was going to take a while. After all, establishing a gateway between two parallel dimensions was not an easy task.

**_Elsewhere (Also known as Ame)_**,

Itachi and Konan were working on the exact same thing as the other two. Madara observed as his guise as the idiot and was very pleased with the progress made by the pair.

_-Two Months Later-_

_**Konoha, outskirts, cave,**_

"Done checking the symbols brat?" Jiraiya asked Kakashi. The younger man's visible eye twitched.

"Everything is in order," Kakashi said, "Now to assemble the team."

"Got it covered! Shizune went and did a lot of that work for us," said Jiraiya holding up a folder. Kakashi walked over and took the folder and leafed through it.

"Gai? We're bringing Gai?" Kakashi said looking up from the folder, "I thought we were just getting his genin."

"They're a complete set Kakashi: Can't have one without the other. The Hyuuga boy is who we needed specifically but once Gai heard he signed his whole team up. We're also getting the Inuzuka girl Tsunade mentioned, Hana I think her name is, along with Anko and Shizune. Oh and Suna's sending a representative as well," Jiraiya said with a shrug.

"Are you sure having this many with us is a good idea?" asked Kakshi raising an eyebrow.

"Not really but we don't know what we'll be facing on the other side," Jiraiya said pragmatically before they left the cave to get some rest before their mission.

The morning of their departure arrived all too soon;

Shizune seemed nervous, and rightfully so, she had snuck away without permission. If and when they returned, Tsunade would be pissed. Anko dragged a kid with her and had him bound with snakes.

"This kid was attempting to spy on us," she said dumping him unceremoniously in front of Jiraiya. Sai hadn't fought back because he was determining whether or not he needed to fight. Now it was too late.

"One of Danzou's ROOT," Jiraiya said with disgust, "Well if he wants to know so badly, he can come with us. Ah, here comes the rest and the Suna representative."

First was Gai, in all his green spandex, bushy brow, bowl-cut glory followed shortly by Lee in equal, uh, 'Youthfulness.' Not too far behind the duo was Ten-Ten in her usual Chinese styled outfit with several scrolls in her pack and strapped to it. Neiji in his usual white outfit was next to her with a similarly packed pack. It was only then that Jiraiya had noticed the green clad doubles had on overly large packs. Anko, Hana, and Shizune had most of their stuff sealed, like the two sane genin. Kakashi had done likewise for he and Jiraiya, everyone carrying a little extra in case their lost comrades needed supplies. The real surprise was the Suna representative.

"Lady Kazekage?" asked Kakashi in shock.

"Stuff it, I'm here as Temari. I left my brother in charge," said Temari irritably, her battle fan seemingly missing though she like the others had a pack and a lot of scrolls. She was dressed in a black battle kimono with a red obi. The Quatra-pony-tailed blonde crossed her arms and said,

"So are we going or not?"

Jiraiya opened the portal and tossed the ROOT agent through first before Shizune entered after him. Kakashi followed and after him went Gai and Lee with their 'Dynamic Entry.' The rest in order were Hana, Anko, Ten-Ten, Neiji, and Temari. Jiraiya had to be last as he had to hold the portal open. Once he double checked and looked around, he too entered.

_**Ame,**_

The process was quicker because only Itachi and Kisame were entering. Kisame first because it was Itachi who was holding the portal open.

_**Four Elements World, Undisclosed Location, Earth Kingdom**_

"Does anyone else feel sick from that?" Jiraiya said upon landing in a heap. He turned to see the portal close itself but didn't worry. The rest of the retrieval team, plus their uninvited guest were ignoring Jiraiya in favor of staring at someone else.

"How did you get here?" Jiraiya asked in shock.

_**Elsewhere, Undiclosed Location, Fire Nation,**_

Itachi stood up brushing over the portal induced nausea quickly. Kisame on the other hand was barfing up whatever he had eaten for the past three days. The Uchiha rolled his eyes and waited for his partner to finish his business.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:And with that I've finished the challenge's requirements except for finishing the whole thing out through the end.

Refresher for those who don't feel like going back to Chapter 1 of either story:  
>Send pre-timeskip Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura to A:TLA universe season 1 episode 14: The Fortuneteller and go through the end of the series and make up your own way to send them there. One must also send the Sound Four along for the ride and get Orouchimaru and the Akatsuki involved. Mandatory pairings are Kataang, NaruHina, SasuSaku.<p>

So:  
>Pre-Timeskip Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke sent? Check (Gaara was an addtition I asked for permission to send over)<br>Sound Four sent? Check  
>My own way to get them there? Check<br>Snakeface involved (he's not been seen yet but) Check  
>Akatsuki involved (as of this chapter) Check<br>Pairings (In Progress- 'Love at first sight' is unrealistic so I am trying to get the pairings to evolve slowly like Kataang did through the A:TLA series)  
>Finished through the end of the series (not yet but in Progress)<p>

This means, anything else is now my move. My Retrieval team for example.

By the way,

I will have to abolish my no 'elemental repeats' thing. High level shinobi would translate into benders on this side. Sakura not being a bender was due to the fact I wanted to do something different.

People expected her to be a bender. It was also partially to do with the fact Sakura's not exactly my favorite character. (In fact I'm rather anti-Sakura)

Now time to play elemental guessing game!  
>Who will be what element!<br>Here's the only one I'll give you:  
>Lee = No element<p>

Three or four of them will be easy to guess (don't forget to lump in the two Akatsuki)

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

**MP**: Ok, so here is Chapter 9 which was short so I went back and wrote Chapter 9b to add to it with a Zuko side story.

By the way, if anyone is thinking of seeing Transformers 3, I'd advise bringing an over caffeinated beverage along because it is long and it drags in sections. I still have mixed feelings about it (especially considering the blond bimbo they replaced Mikaela with! That character might be _named_ Carly but she does the G1 character of the same name a great injustice!) but it was a good film over all. I won't say it was great but it was good.

Responses, now that I've gotten off my soapbox:

**L33t Horo**: Well I added a short story to this chapter to lengthen it. Though the other chapters I have written thus far are much longer.

**PaperPlanes**: Ok so here are your pacman points but I only have 2 cause I suck at pacman (seriously, I've never ever gotten past level one. Now if you wanted, say Galaxians's/Space Invaders's points then I'm your girl). I decided with the Super Pervert's spy network that he would most definitely know about ROOT.

As far as the Akatsuki is concerned, good heavens no! If the Firelord tried to boss Itachi around it would end up like this:

Ozai: You **_will_** obey me!

Itachi: No. TSUKIYOMI! For the next 72 hours you will suffer like you've never suffered before. Kisame, quit killing his guards and let's get out of here

Kisame: (knee deep in carnage) Fine, it was getting boring anyway

or, like this:

_Ozai threw lightning at his robe clad foe whose red eyes were practically glowing, and they dodged it. Then, with perfect form, the longhaired young man threw lightning right back at him striking the Firelord straight through his black heart, killing him on the spot._

_"What a waste of time," Itachi said before he left with a swirl of his red-cloud covered robes. On his way out his picked up Kisame who was slaughtering handfuls of firebenders at a time with samehada._

That's not even taking into account what Kisame would do to him.

Since I'm trying _not_ to end the war with **one** paragraph, they won't be meeting EVER. They're in the Fire Nation simply because that's where their portal spat them out. Likewise for the Konoha team and the Earth Kingdom.

Though that _is_ an entertaining thought. Perhaps I should write something to the effect of "The Many Deaths of The Firelord"

**MP**: Ok, while I go drown that plot-bunny enjoy the chapter and it's little extra!

* * *

><p>Quote:<em>"The whole campaign was a tragic case of mistaken identity." <em>George Stanley McGovern <em>_

**Chapter 9 Legend of Earth Kingdom's Yellow Flash!**

"How did you meet Gaara?" asked Aang after a few hours into the flight.

"Sandy was playing with his sand near my house and I could feel he was moving the earth too so I gave him a few pointers and introduced him to Earth Rumble and he's been coming ever since. The Boulder hates losing to him more than me because of Sandy's sand," Toph said, "He's the closest thing to a friend I have."

"How is he doing that flying thing?" asked Sokka.

"It has to do with the demon sealed inside of me," Gaara said startling Sokka.

"Naruto, how will that mini-Appa last?" asked Sokka changing the subject.

"Until it gets hit," said Naruto which had the others suddenly go pale.

"We need an alternative solution," said Sasuke.

"What about a balloon?" Sokka suggested, "And the best part is you don't even need a burner with emo boy there."

"How long will it take to make one?" asked Sakura after she whacked Sokka.

"With Naruto's clones, maybe a day," Sokka said, "Though we're going to need to stop at a village to get the supplies to build one."

They landed and soon the materials were gathered and the multiple Naruto's got to work following Sasuke and Sokka's instructions.

"So what are we going to do while they work?" asked Aang.

"I don't know what you're going to do, Twinkletoes, but I'm going to find a place to relax," Toph said. Aang shrugged and left with her. Gaara silently followed leaving Sasuke to supervise the clones with Sokka's assistance.

"Why don't we go into town and see if we can stock up on other supplies with what's left," Katara said before the Original Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata nodded following her.

"YELLOW FLASH!" yelled someone when Naruto walked into the village only to have them say, "No, it's just a kid with hair like his." Just as on Kyoshi whenever they people found out Aang wasn't there, when it turned out to not be the 'Yellow Flash' the town's excitement deflated.

"They have a Yellow Flash too?" Sakura said.

"It has to be a different guy," Naruto said.

"No, duh! Konoha's Yellow Flash was the Fourth and he's dead," Sakura said.

"What's the story about this 'Yellow Flash?'" Katara asked a villager.

"They say that he appeared about thirteen years ago, and began to fight for the Earth Kingdom, obliterating advancing Fire Nation troops with nothing but a series of yellow flashes. No one's ever seen his face but they've seen him from behind and he has spiky yellow hair like your friend does," said the one villager. Naruto heard the Nine-Tails growling.

'What now, Fuzzy?' he asked.

'**Any time I hear that title I have the urge to kill him for sealing me into you**,' the demon snarled.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Hinata asked bringing Naruto back to reality.

"Fuzzy's just grumbling because their Yellow Flash reminded him of our Yellow Flash," Naruto said.

"I wonder if he's also from your world," Katara mused a loud.

"If he was then he'd have to be our Fourth Hokage, but he died sealing the Nine-Tails," said Sakura.

"What if he got pulled into a vortex like we were?" Hinata said.

"What did Gaara say his caretaker's name was again?" asked Sakura.

"Minato," Naruto said which made all three ninja stop dead.

"What was the Fourth's name?" asked Katara curious about some information about the ellusive pasts of the ninjas.

"M-Minato N-Namikaze," said Hinata. The Nine-Tails let out a stream of swear words that were very colorful and had the demon been corporeal the air around him would have turned blue.

"We'll ask Gaara if his Minato's last name was Namikaze," said Naruto after a moment, "One of my clones dispelled, the balloon's going to be a little while longer: Sokka and Sasuke are arguing over design."

"Those two couldn't rely on each other if their lives depended on it," Katara sighed.

"Mayb-Nope, she's right," Naruto began to say, "And then Sasuke would just swear vengeance on Sokka and get him in the afterlife or something."

"JERK!" Sakura said smacking Naruto as Katara and Hinata giggled a little.

"Sakura, he's right, Sasuke is focused on revenge a lot," Hinata said trying to placate the pinket. All talk of finding out the full identity of the hermit pushed out of their heads.

They returned to camp that night to see the frame and the basket were finished leaving only the cloth portion still undone as the Naruto clones continued to sew under Sokka's watchful eye, several clones holding torches so the others could see. Sasuke was sleeping by the fire having used bending to weld the metal together. Several clones had been accidentally dispelled during this process. The basket was big enough to fit ten with bars to tie straps to and a place on the front to tie mooring lines. The next morning the Naruto clones had finished the cloth part but were sleepy so the original dismissed all of them to summon a new batch to get the fabric on the frame without tearing it. Half a day later and the balloon was ready to go. The balloon was multicolored because of the fact there hadn't been enough of just one color to make it.

"How'd we afford all that?" Sokka asked in amazement.

"Gaara's second place prize money from Earth Rumble," said Sasuke as he climbed in and shot a controlled burst of fire into the balloon to make it rise a little while still tied to the ground.

"It's missing something," Naruto said before he smirked and summoned a clone who ran off and returned with paint. A clone-ladder later and the Uzumaki swirl was on the sides of the balloon.

"What's that?" asked Sokka pointing to the swirl.

"It kinda looks like part of the Air Nomad's symbol," Katara remarked.

"It's the Dead Last's family crest," Sasuke muttered.

"I like it," Hinata said without a stutter.

"Hn," avenger-ese for 'Of course you would.'

"Why not just put the leaf on the side?" asked Sakura.

"Because Gaara's not from leaf and I don't know Sand's symbol," Naruto said with a shrug. Gaara pointed to the metal plate on his strap.

"Say, if you hate Hidden Sand so much, why not join us?" asked Naruto.

"Defect?" Gaara said puzzled.

"Yeah, though there's nothing wrong with you," said Naruto.

"He meant switching loyalty to Konoha, leaving his old village behind," Sasuke explained.

"Geeze Naruto, I can't believe how dense you are," Sakura said.

"At least he doesn't point out every mistake you make," Hinata said finding a backbone, "You're no better than the teachers from the academy who refused to answer his questions! It's no wonder he was dead last! No one was willing to help him and I was too shy to talk to him!"

"So I wasn't imagining things," Sasuke remarked. The Uchiha genius had noticed Naruto's treatment over the years but thought maybe he was misreading the situation.

"You guys noticed and never told anyone?" Naruto said borderline angry.

"Who would have listened to us?" Sasuke said, "We're a couple of kids. Yes, we're from powerful clans, but the adults seemed set to hate you for the Fox."

"Why is it such a secret that Naruto's the container anyway?" asked Sakura.

"Something about wanting me to grow up normal," Naruto said huffily.

"That was stupid," Sasuke said.

"All it did was make the adults hate Naruto more," Hinata said.

"And it didn't stop our parents from making us shun him," Sasuke said, "My parents used flimsy excuses such as he was a classless orphan not worthy of an Uchiha's time. If that had been the case then all Uchiha would have shunned any and all orphans and all ninjas who came from civilians families."

"Father also said something similar," Hinata said.

"My parents just said he was a bad influence, but you know, it never stopped the Third Hokage from being kind to him nor those ramen people," Sakura said.

"Your whole village dumped on him and he's willing to become their protector?" Toph asked as she and Aang returned from training.

"I have precious people in the village and though they hurt me, if I let them get hurt, I'd be just as bad as them," Naruto said passionately, "That's my way of being a ninja and I'm not going to break it." Gaara watched the whole exchanged silently.

"Konoha may not be standing whenever we return. Suna had allied with Hidden Sound to invade during the exams," Gaara said.

"WHAT!" Sakura and Naruto yelled. Sasuke and Hinata merely glared at the Sand ninja, their respective bloodlines activating from their sheer fury.

"The Fourth Kazekage had decided ally with Sound for financial reasons. I was to be Sand's trump card. My disappearance will have hampered their mission severely, as I was to be both a distraction and a destructive force from within," Gaara said, "I owe nothing to Suna." The redhead looked at his forehead protector and a stream of sand blasted the metal blank, "I would prefer to remain your comrade, though I would understand if you would prefer to dissociate with me." The formerly insane ex-Sand ninja bowed his head expecting to hear rejections from his new friends.

"Are you kidding?" Naruto yelled. This shocked Gaara out of his somber stance.

"If we were going to exclude people for things they might have done then we wouldn't be here right now," Katara said. Aang winced a little at that reminder.* See Batou of the water tribe in Book 1 of either my story or just an episode summary from the general avatar universe

"Yeah, and you're pretty good in a fight, we need you to help bust Firebender heads," Sokka said.

"And I think you're not as bad as you make yourself out to be," Aang said.

"Just get in the balloon," Sasuke said.

"Um Sasuke, Hinata? Your eyes…," Sakura said. The two seemed surprised by this development and deactivated them at once.

"You're one of us now!" Naruto said with a bright smile.

Fire nation, The Boiling Rock

**-Four Months ago-**

"How are you finding your new recruits?" asked the warden of a young woman wearing fine silk robes and a silk cap. Her red hair let to hang loose around her lovely face, upon which a cold smirk was worn.

"They are doing well for trash, but I will soon make them almost worthy of training," she said, "When can I expect my surviving teammates returned to me?"

"Never," said the warden.

"Why the F**k not?" the woman asked losing her composure.

"I'm afraid that the last survivor died last night from Turtleduck Pox," the warden explained.

"Damn. That means I need to find a way to get in touch with my master sooner. I am certain he will join in the Fire Lord's mission. Fire Lord Oozai and my master are of the same mind on many things," the young woman said.

"I don't doubt that Lady Tayuya, though how he managed to force you to clean your fowl mouth is a mystery," the warden said.

"It's F**king easy, actually. Shoot lightning at someone's f**king ass and see what happens," Tayuya explained.

"Sir! Reports from the Earth Kingdom! That blasted Flash is at it again!" a messenger said.

"Are any of your unit ready for a field test?" asked the Warden.

"I have one that just might be ready," Tayuya said before she turned to the room on her left.

"Hey F**kers! All members of the Third Inversion Unit better get their f**king asses in gear! You're finally getting to see some G-d damned action so don't keep me waiting, you f**king pieces of trash!" Tayuya yelled she turned to the messenger, "You, what are the damn details about this f**ker?" The messenger shakily handed her the scrolls as a general entered after him.

"General Zheng, it's about f**king time," Tayuya said as he ninja trainees appeared, "Debrief these trashes and then deploy them as you see fit. I'm going to train more of their f**king kind." With that the flute playing sole survivor of the Sound Four (Five) went to torture more of her 'recruits.'

And now for Chapter 9b: A Zuko Side story, which takes place just after 'Zuko Alone.'

**Chapter 9b A Chance Encounter**

_"Sharing tea with an interesting stranger is one of life's true delights," Iroh, 'The Chase,' Book 2: Earth, Avatar: Last Airbender_

After leaving the last village, Zuko kept his head down as he rode. He made it rather far before nightfall and before he could make camp ran into someone already doing so. They were dressed in a loose green tunic and cream colored pants with sandals on their feet. The man was tall and his face was hidden in the shadows of his hat which looked a lot like the hat Zuko himself wore.

"Are you going to just stand there or join me?" the man asked cheerfully indicating a pot cooking on the fire. Zuko was confused for a moment before he tied his ostrich horse on to a tree and sat across from the stranger.

"So, what are you called?" asked the man.

"Li," Zuko said.

"Well, Li, I'm Minato," said the man removing his hat to reveal a youngish face with wide blue eyes and a large cheesy grin. What had Zuko's attention, however, was the spiky bright blonde hair on the man's head and the headband he wore with the strange swirl/arrow shape,

'He looks like that airbender who travels with the Avatar,' Zuko thought as he too removed his hat.

"What brings you to this part of the Earth Kingdom?" Minato asked as he stirred his stew.

"Just passing through," replied his guest. Minato recognized who the boy was; after all, the exiled Prince Zuko nearly had as big a price on his head as Minato himself did. Though he would play along with the boy, as he knew it was hard to hide with a distinctive feature: in Minato's case, his blond hair.

"What does that symbol on your headband mean?" asked 'Li.'

"It's the symbol of my home village. Anyone wearing this symbol is also from my home," Minato said carefully. He'd seen the boy's reaction to his hair and his symbol which meant,

'Other Ninjas from Konoha are here!'

"I see," Zuko said more to himself that to Minato. A rustling sound was heard and both warriors were on their feet. Zuko had his Dao's out in a split second while Minato had out a tri-pronged kunai and a regular one. It was a drunken man who seemed to be carrying stacks of paper. Minato moved almost too quickly for the banished prince to see but the man was out like a light with one hit. Minato took the papers and began to look through them: Wanted Posters. Top of the pile, the Avatar, himself as the Flash (though because of his quickness it wasn't a very good likeness though the hair was spot on), next were Iroh and Zuko, following that was Zhong-Zhong, a few other less notable people's posters and then Minato froze staring at the inked painting.

'It can't be!' he thought staring at the ink image of what could have passed for a younger version of himself.

'Wait, no, there's Kushina's nose, and that grin is all her,' Minato thought as he nearly crinkled the poster.

"What is it?" Zuko asked as he walked over. He spotted both of his wanted posters (one as Zuko and the other as the Blue Spirit) and tossed them into the fire. He noticed the man was frozen over a wanted poster of the blonde companion of the Avatar.

"Naruto," the man said in disbelief.

"He's your son," Zuko observed from the look on the man's face.

"Yes, but I was separated from him when he was a baby. I never thought I'd ever get to see him," Minato said in shock. He took the poster, folded it up and tucked it in his tunic nearly to choke on his own saliva when he saw that the next one was that of a girl Hyuuga followed by what appeared to be one of the Uchihas. There was a pink haired girl he didn't recognize, though she wore the symbol of Konoha like the other three did.

Minato destroyed the rest of the posters and found his stew was now finished cooking. He divvied it out and they ate in silence.

"Thank you for the meal, but I must be going," Zuko said standing and bowing his head to Minato as he put his hat back on.

"You're welcome. Take care," Minato said. Zuko nodded and mounted his ostrichhorse before Minato pulled out the poster and stared at the image of his son. Balancing his family and his duties had been something he'd mastered in his short tenure as Hokage. Minato would have loved nothing more than to go tearing off after his son, but he knew that the Earth Kingdom needed him. He sat there the rest of the night before he came to a decision. But before he could do anything he heard rustling and turned to see the last thing he expected,

"What the hell?"

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:Dang it, that bunny got away! (if you're confused go back up to just before the chapter actually starts) SO that means I'm sicking my virtual kitty cat on it. It's because of these dang plot bunnies I can't focus on writing chapter 12 of this story! Also, you see what I meant by pulling a Kishimoto on the Sound 4 now, don't ya? Though it's now down to the Sound 1...

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

**MP**: Ok thanks to BlackKritin and Paperplanes for reviewing. I'm currently stumped because of how I've written things there's no way Appa get's kidnapped while Toph is keeping the library up because my Gaara would NEVER leave her alone. So unless I figure out how to rework season two within two weeks or find a way for them to still loose Appa without it looking like a convenient trick to stick with the show's plot, this story will, sadly, have to go on hiatus. Plus my plotbunnies keep popping up for other fandoms.

**BlackKristin**:Nope. It was Optimus Prime :P J/k I've just got Transformer's on the brain.

**PaperPlanes**: People seriously have the Akastuki work for Ozai? I mean, I have Sound ninja working for the Fire Nation but Sound Ninjas are significantly less badass and it's more incharacter for them to work for the Fire Lord than it is the Akatsuki. As for pairings, I will admit to being rubish at romance. Though I have a sort of NaruHina moment in this chapter inspired by chapter 437 of the manga. The thing is, until Sakura gets over her fangirlish tendancies (which I plan to have Toph beat out of her) Sasuke won't like her or even respect her all that much.

* * *

><p>Quote:<em><em>"One way or another, I'm gonna find ya', I'm gonna get ya', get ya', get ya', get ya'…" <span>One way or Another<span>, _Blondie___

**Chapter 10 The Chase**

As the group began to unpack for the night, Appa's shedding made a huge mess. So when Toph dismounted she mistook it for really soft grass. Then the boys began to play with the fur.

"Hey it makes a great wig," Sokka said as he made a beehive on his head.

"A great beard," Aang added with a full face of Appa fur. Hinata giggled a little as she and the ninja landed their balloon nearby. Not to be out done, Toph strolled over to the boys,

"Does anyone have a razor? Because I have some hairy pits!" and she lifted her arms to reveal she'd stuffed fur under her arms. Aang sneezed knocking the fur off of them causing him to laugh harder finally getting Katara to laugh at their antics. Naruto moved to join the fun whenever Sakura smacked him.

Later, Sokka, Sakura, and Naruto were fetching firewood, Aang was helping set up the tent, Gaara was digging the fire pit via Earthbending, Sasuke was looking for food, and Hinata was helping Katara in hauling water while Toph just sat off to the side doing nothing. Katara paused in her chores trying to get Toph to help. The last time they'd made camp Toph hadn't done anything, but Katara assumed that was because she'd not seen what needed to be done before and let it slide. This time, however, she was not willing to do so.

"So, Toph, usually when setting up camp we try to divide up the work," Katara said.

"Hey, don't worry about me, I'm good to go," Toph said unaffected, chewing on her grass. Naruto, over on the other side of camp, heard that and cringed knowing prelude to angry female rant better than anyone. Katara seemed to fight off the angry rant and thought she merely needed to explain further.

"So how angry is Katara gonna get when Toph still refuses to listen?" Naruto asked Sokka as he began to work on unrolling his sleeping bag.

"Not as angry as I'm going to get unless you get out of my way," Sakura said. Naruto gulped and raced back into the woods to get more firewood. He emerged to hear Toph yell,

"I don't understand, what's the problem here?"

"The problem is that you're only focusing on you!" yelled Sakura.

"Your point is, Shrieky?" Toph said, "I can take care of myself! You should be able to too!" That point was punctuated with Sakura's feet being moved by Toph Earthbending the ground. Both other girls walked away.

Half an hour later Katara and Sakura tried to apologize to Toph only to get angrier while the boys, minus Gaara, helped Aang remove Appa's saddle, only to get nearly crushed by it, were it not for a timely application of shadow clones. Gaara and Hinata were both making sure that their supper wouldn't burn. It was a couple hours later when both Toph and Gaara were awoken/startled out of meditation by vibrations they could feel in the ground.

"There's something coming toward us!" she yelled as Gaara made and eye of sand and sent it out towards the source. Gaara had just gotten the visual whenever Toph explained what she was feeling,

"It feels like and avalanche but also not an avalanche," she said.

"You powers of perception are frightening," Sokka said sarcastically.

"It's some sort of metal vehicle," Gaara said startling the others. They turned to see the red head had two fingers pointing to one of his eyes.

"How can you tell?" asked Katara.

"I can use my abilities to make an eye of sand," Gaara said nonchalantly.

"That means they're probably Fire Nation," Sasuke said.

"So we'd better leave," Katara said.

"I agree," Aang said as the benders, plus Sokka climbed on Appa while the ninja climbed into their balloon which Sokka threw a few fire blasts into to get airborne. Once in the sky it was possible to see the dust plume thrown up by the tank following them.

Once they group had landed Toph leapt off of Appa and hugged the ground,

"Land! Sweet Land! Well, see you guys in the morning," with that she'd sprung up and was walking off to the edge of the clearing whenever Katara and Sakura both approached her,

"Actually, could you help us unload," Katara said.

"What? You need me to help unload Sokka's funky smelling sleeping bag?" Toph asked incredulously. Sokka, who was unloading his own sleeping bag smelled it and the smell made him fall over backwards, which caused Naruto to laugh, Hinata to giggle, and Sasuke to mutter,

"If he only thought to wash it, he wouldn't be in his situation." Gaara was silent as he simply continued to help Aang unload Appa.

"Yes, that and everything else; You're a part of our team now and-," It was then that Toph cut her off pointing her finger in Katara's face, though not looking at her.

"Look, I didn't ask you for help unloading my stuff. I'm carrying my own weight," Toph said before she turned to walk away.

"That's not the point! Ever since you've joined us you've been selfish and unhelpful," Katara said.

"And you attitude isn't helping things!" Sakura said.

"What! Look here Sugar Queen and Shrieky! I gave up everything to teach Aang earthbending so don't either of you dare talk to me about being selfish!" Toph retorted, this time her pointed finger nearly hitting Katara. At the end of her rant She made another earth tent.

"Why you-," Sakura began as Katara sputtered,

"SUGAR QUEEN!" That's when Toph made a door appear.

"Did you just slam the door in my face!" Katara yelled angrily.

"You little brat!" Sakura said attempting her modified version of Tsunade's justu. Which resulted in two things: one, she managed to crack the door and two, hurt her fist. So while she was howling with pain, Katara was ranting and pounding on the tent.

"So should we do anything?" Aang asked.

"I'm just enjoying the show," Sokka said.

"It's not safe to try," Naruto said shuddering.

"Took you long enough to learn self-preservation instincts," Sasuke said.

"Lady Toph doesn't calm down easily either," Gaara said with a sigh.

"I'm going to try," Aang said as he approached Katara.

"His funeral," Naruto muttered. He looked over and saw Hinata had finished unrolling sleeping bags and had curled up in hers. He went to join her when he heard Katara roar,

"I'M COMPLETELY CALM!" Naruto winced and hurried to his sleeping bag, which was next to Hinata's and got in. The others doing likewise.

Later, when most of the Ninja's had gotten to sleep, or in a deep meditation (As Gaara still wouldn't sleep) Katara meanly remarked,

"The stars sure are beautiful tonight, too bad you can't see them Toph!"

"Shut up and go to sleep," Sasuke mumbled. Toph's response was to earthbend Katara onto Sokka.

"How's a guy to sleep with all this yelling and eathquaking!" he yelled.

"How can we sleep when you're yelling too!" Naruto snapped.

"That tank thing's back!" Toph said after she lowered her door.

"How far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes for a few minutes," Sokka said.

"I don't think so Sokka," Aang said as the smoke was spotted. The ninja simply threw their stuff into the basket and were in the air at around the same time as Appa.

"How do they keep finding us?" Toph asked.

"I don't know but this time I'm going to make sure we lose them," Aang said.

The third time they tried to sleep, they abandoned setting up camp, and Sasuke, Naruto just stayed in the moored balloon. Not that anyone got any sleep anyway between Katara and Toph's sniping and Momo bugging Sokka it was revealed that the tank had caught up with them once again.

"That's impossible," Aang stated as the tank came after them.

"Maybe we should face them, find out who they are. Maybe they're friendly," Aang said.

"Aang, we've already concluded they're Fire Nation," Sasuke.

"That's Aang for you, always the optimist," Sokka said.

"I like the idea of fighting them instead of running," Naruto said.

"You would," Sakura muttered sleepily, having been too tired earlier to join in on the sniping between Katara and Toph. They didn't have to wait long. The tank was pulling two cargo cars and in the second car was three riders on strange lizard things.

"It's those three girls from Omashu," Sokka said.

"We can take them," Toph said as everyone took to the ready.

"Shadow Clones!" Naruto yelled and fifty of him appeared on the stone bridge. As one they all airbent and nearly sent the trio flying, if not for their nimble mounts. One lightning assault later most of the clones were dispersed while the triad pressed onwards, Mai taking out several with her throwing weapons only to have the shadow clones return fire, forcing her to block. The group managed to escape, the balloon taking some damage from the firebender.

"Guys! We've got to land elsewhere," Naruto yelled before an idea struck him and he formed a shadow clone and it glided over to Appa.

"Any reason for being two places at once?" asked Aang.

"When I disperse the others will be able to find Appa," said the clone.

"Oh," Katara said sleepily.

The group in the balloon managed to escape the tank but they were losing altitude fast. They landed on a mountain far enough away and began to effect repairs as best they could. Being exhausted Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata slept in the balloon while Gaara kept watch due to the fact the clone had yet to disperse. Naruto woke up after the clone dispersed itself in the morning and groaned.

"Toph left," he said, "And I know how to find the others, just look for Appa's fur, it was leaving a trail," Naruto yawned as they set off. The ninjas arrived just as Appa took off into the trees and Aang went the other way with fur in his bag, leaving a false trail. Naruto leapt out of the balloon and followed Aang while Sasuke and the others landed.

"I'm going to find Lady Toph," Gaara said before using his sand to fly away.

"I'm going after dead last," Sasuke muttered before taking off through the trees.

"I guess we're going after Sokka and Katara," Sakura said as they hid the balloon (neither was a firebender. Therefore, they couldn't power the balloon). Sakura used a genjutsu to ensure it remained hidden. She smacked herself for not thinking of using one sooner, Hinata thinking the same thing. Soon they were racing through the trees looking for Appa.

Unbeknownst to them, a short time later Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee also split up there, Azula following Sasuke, Naruto, and Aang while Mai and Ty Lee followed the rest minus Gaara and Toph.

Clearing,

Toph was walking through a clearing whenever she sensed someone. She attacked them with earthbending to reveal an old man, known to everyone in her group, except Sakura, herself, and Gaara as Iroh.

On the trail of Appa,

Mai and Ty Lee over took the ninja, though they didn't notice them and caught up to the Water Tribe siblings first. By the time Hinata and Sakura entered the fray, the siblings were both subdued.

"Perhaps it is time for a taste of your own medicine. You are in the field of my Divination," Hinata said, Byakugan activated. Ty Lee turned just as Hinata started her strikes, though she had modified it to hit regular pressure points taking Ty Lee down in the same way she had taken out Sokka. Meanwhile, Sakura was fighting hand to hand with Mai, dodging her projectiles and throwing a few kunai of her own.

"Missed," Mai said,

"Not quite," Sakura said as she used the last of her ninja wire to pull the kunai back, one of them slicing Mai on the cheek. Before she could retaliate, it was at this point that Appa had woken up and used an airbent blast powered by his tail to send her and the immobilized Ty Lee into the stream.

"Thanks Appa!" Sokka said. Appa showed his appreciation by licking Sokka in the face.

Mai dragged herself and Ty Lee out of the stream, using her own rudimentary knowledge of pressure points to help the other girl regain movement of one arm so that she could do the rest.

"Was it just me or was that one guy kinda cute?" she asked the bedraggled Mai.

With Aang and Naruto,

Naruto had caught up with Aang easily.

"What took you guys so long?" Aang asked.

"We had to wait for my clone to disperse," said Naruto as they continued to fly. They arrived at a deserted down that reminded Naruto of the imported Westerns some in the older generation of civilians liked. Aang took a seat at the end of a road.

"Aren't you going to fly away?" Naruto asked.

"No," Aang said, "I'm just going to confront whoever it is that's after us."

"Well I'm going to stay out of sight," Naruto said, finally utilizing his ninja training, so he simply henged himself into a board leaning against a nearby building. Azula arrived with Sasuke not far behind her on foot. Not far behind either of them was Zuko, who had been following his sister's tank's very easy to follow tracks. Sasuke kept to the roof tops after Azula dismounted, searching for Naruto. Because of his preoccupation he missed the banter between Azula and Aang, who revealed herself to be Zuko's sister with a rather bad attempt at doing an impression of her brother.

Elsewhere,

Iroh and Toph sat on a cliff with a pot of tea on the fire. He offered her tea and she accepted. He talked to her about giving her advice on accepting help from those who care. And about Zuko, who was lost in away. So Iroh was following him,

"That way if he needs me, I will be there," Iroh finished.

It wasn't much later that Gaara caught up with them. He arrived to hear Toph say,

"Thank you for what you said, it helped me," to Iroh.

"About time you showed up, Sandy," Toph said without turning, "Oh, this is Gaara, he's my friend and my student." Gaara nodded to Iroh who smiled.

"Oh and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him you need him too," Toph said before she and Gaara left.

"Put me down, Sandy!" she yelled as he took to the air to save time.

Back with Aang et all,

It was almost a stereotypical standoff from an old Western movie, neither Azula nor Aang moved at first.

"Do you really want to fight me?" the princess sneered, just then an ostrich horse burst through an alley with someone slipping off of it, who was revealed to be Zuko. Though now he had hair!

"Yes, I really do!" He said as he threw away his hat.

"Zuko!" Aang said as Sasuke prepared to jump in.

"I was wondering when you'd appear, Zu-Zu," Azula said as if she'd fully expected Zuko to appear. Well she had.

"Zu-Zu?" Aang snickered. Naruto laughed too breaking his henge.

"Back off, Azula! He's mine," Zuko said slipping into a firebending stance as his eyes flickered between his psychotic sister and the Avatar.

"I'm not going anywhere," Azula said also taking a bending stance, only she had all but two fingers bent. It was then that Naruto and Sasuke took ready stances as well.

"It's foolish to assume Aang goes anywhere alone," Sasuke said.

"If it isn't the traitor," Azula sneered, "And the loud mouthed blonde."

"Stupid Nail Lady!" Naruto yelled. Luckily for the blonde, Sasuke restrained him, though he was startled to see Naruto's irises turn red.  
>"Naruto, your eyes," Sasuke said. Naruto made a clone and jumped back at the sight of red eyes.<p>

'What the Hell, Fuzzy!' he thought.

'**Your emotions have weakened the barrier**,' Nine-Tails said, '**Anger draws my power to the surface**.'

'Damn!' Naruto thought as he formed more shadow clones and prepared to fight. It was Azula who struck first, attacking her own brother, much to Naruto's shock. Aang tried to fly away only to have Azula attempt to attack him whenever Sasuke, who activated the sharingan deflected her fire, though Aang had still been forced to land. Azul narrowed her eyes and continued to aim her fire at Aang and Zuko while Sasuke kept interfering with her. At the same time Naruto and a healthy combination of clones were hassling Zuko. Naruto happened to look over to see Azula sent flying by a move he'd seen Lee use six months ago at the Chunin exam before he and the others had been sent to this world.

'Stupid cheater eyes!' Naruto thought as he nearly got burned by Zuko.

It was the arrival of four large giant monster things that startled everything to a halt.

"I am sorry I am late, Princess, but the F**king message summoning me got delayed because some f**ktard was too damn scared to get with fifty f**king feet of me," a young woman in a red kimono said as she stood on a building, a flute in hand.

"Better late than never Tayuya," Azula said dusting herself off, "After all, if it weren't for me, Father would have executed you." Tayuya seemed annoyed by that statement but also unable to deny it. She then saw something that made her stop dead.

"Ah F**k! It's Gaara!" she said before she began to play on her flute more which had the doki attack Aang, Naruto, Sasuke and Zuko as sand appeared around one of her giants.

"Hello, Tayuya," Gaara said calmly as the rest of the reinforcements showed up. Sakura had her remaining kunai at the ready, Hinata's byukugan was activated, Sokka had his weapons out, Katara had water ready to bend and Toph was cracking her knuckles.

"Desert Funeral!" Gaara yelled before there was the sound of sand destroying something soft. It opened up to reveal and badly mangled doki that was now very much useless. Tayuya cursed (what else is new?) before she played another song and her chakra eating snakes appeared. Sasuke dodged them as best he could but was hit by a glancing blow.

"Be careful these things suck chakra," he said before he realized he was in a genjutsu. He tried to move his arms and found he couldn't. Luckily, he had skills that didn't require hand signs. He spit fire and then was able to form the hand sign he needed,

"KAI!" he yelled only to still be in yet another genjutsu. So he kept yelling it over and over until he saw he was back in the deserted village in time to see Naruto get set flying by a single remaining doki. Gaara had seemingly crushed the rest.

Though it seemed the reason her doki that was left survived was because she'd put everyone not on her side in a genjutsu. Hinata was still free due to her own eyes. Sasuke moved to attack whenever a huge chakra pulse spread from Naruto and everyone under the illusion was freed. Iroh had shown up during this time and Azula had been attacking him and Zuko mercilessly, especially whenever the genjutsu had still been up. Gaara's ultimate defense had served him and everyone near him well. Now it was focused on the last doki while Hinata and Sakura focused their attacks on Tayuya's flute. Tayuya had undergone a startling transformation both powerful and horrible. Sasuke both desired and was disgusted by the possibility of the power source. He snapped out of it and joined in the effort to get her flute. Her doki lashed out aiming its attack at Naruto's back. Hinata took the hit meant for him and was sent flying. This resulted in pushing Naruto over the edge. Red chakra bubbled over him forming his cloak, a cloak that only had one tail so far. Tayuya looked at the red chakra covered form in surprise. This was also about the same time at Sakura's kunai finally hit home and destroyed her flute which had the doki standing uselessly in front of her just before Gaara destroyed it too. Naruto launched himself at her snarling sending air blasts laced with chakra blades in the shape of claw slashes in her direction forcing her to attempt to dodge. Her survival only proved to make Naruto angrier. It was during this that Azula wounded Iroh and made her escape the others merely watching in horror as Naruto lost all control with his tail number increasing from one to two to three. One swipe later and the final member of the Sound Four was no more.

"Naruto! Calm down, Hinata's ok!" Aang yelled. Naruto looked at his now awake teammate and suddenly collapsed. Sasuke's quick thinking prevented further harm to the blonde.

Fire Nation, Boiling Rock, Subbasement A,

"Kuku kuku, so the final one is dead," Laughed a familiar serpentine form. Orouchimaru had survived! He had a scroll that monitored the life forms of all his 'blessed' and Tayuya's symbol had just faded. True, Sarutobi had destroyed his life in his home world, but in this new world, Orouchimaru was now able to start over. All thanks to his loyal puppets and an overly ambitious Admiral, who had summoned him there just before the shinigami could kill him. The Snake Sage would use the same method that summoned him to bring his most loyal disciple to him soon. The body he had stolen after arrival had belonged to a man named Zheng. Once he helped this Fire Lord win his war he would take a piece of the world for his own and start yet another Hidden Village.

"Kuku kuku! Let's see how many survive this round," the snake chuckled as he prepared to give more of his new ninjas a cursed seal.

Earth Kingdom,

That night, after flying a great distance Appa managed to land and everyone on board was asleep. The same story could be said in the balloon except Gaara who kept watch over the others.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:So there it is. Like I said I did sort of pull a Kishimoto there with the Sound Four members but I really didn't know Tayuya's character very well aside from the fact she has a predelicition to swearing. Also Snakeface has finally made an appearance. He and his cursed army will play a role later.

Also, here's another of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Deidara**

_Ozai stared down the strangely emfeminate blonde man before him wearing black robes with clouds on them. The most disturbing feature on this man were the mouths on the palms of his hands._

_"Did you hear me? I order you to capture the Avata!" Ozai yelled._

_"I heard you, un. I just won't do it," Deidara said before his hands spat out a clay skybison, "Here's some of my art, Yeah!"_

_KABOOM! Where the Fire Lord had once been was now a crater scattered with human remains. With that Deidara left._

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

_**Shameless Plug Time!**_: On my Fiction Press Account I am posting part of my novel that I've been working on for a long time. Here's the url with spaces added in so it'll show up. Please come over and enjoy!

http : / / www. fictionpress. com /s/ 2937310 /1/ Mysterious _ Prophetesss _ Potpourri

**MP**: Thanks to all reviewers. Good News! I wrote another two chapters so this is out of danger for going on hiatus (for now). Whenever the fall semester starts, however, then this will take a back burner to my college studies. Luckily we've got plenty of time until that happens (I might even get this done before then).

Chapter 9 review: **KatonKage**:Hopefully they're not as big a pair of A-holes here. Apologies from them still to come

Chapter 10:

**xxHinaAngelxx**: I'm glad you think it's improving. Hopefully this chapter lives up to your expectations

**PaperPlanes**: No need to worry. After I posted chapter 10 and thought about this for a while (and re-read one of my favorite fanfics) I was able to go through and figure something out. You're right about Akatski and the Sound nins being improbable choices because they're either on the other side of the world or not hunting the Avatar (Though to tell the truth neither of those groups crossed my mind).

* * *

><p>Quote: <em>Do or do not. There is no try- Yoda, Star Wars Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back<em>

**Chapter 11 Bitter Work**

Aang was very excited. That day he would finally start to learn earthbending and be one step closer to ending the war.

"Today's the day! After all that time searching for a teacher I finally get to learn earthbending and this place, it's perfect isn't it!" Very excited might have been an understatement as the monk was positively jumping about. With his last statement he looked to Sokka for a response and the older boy made an angry growl.

"Keep it down," Sasuke growled from his spot near the nearly burned out fire. Naruto was also glaring at Aang.

"Oh, you're still sleeping huh?" Sokka growled and rolled over while the two male ninjas who actually slept (Gaara using mediation in lieu of sleep) just tried to go back to sleep.

"Sorry!" Aang whispered. Then the ground rumbled a little as Toph's earth tent exploded outwards as Toph spoke sort of like a sport's announcer,

"Good Morning Earthbending Students!" Bright and chipper. Her 'entrance' having woken up the sleeping ninja girls (who slept in the moored balloon).

"Good Morning Sifu Toph!" Aang said as he bowed respectfully to Toph while Gaara merely walked over to Toph and Aang.

"Hey, you never call me Sifu Katara," a still groggy Katara said.

"Well if you think I should?" Aang said rubbing the back of his neck. It was at this point a sleep deprived Sokka had had enough and stood up, while still in his sleeping bag, and began to grumble in a nearly unintelligible nonsense language. Toph's response was,

"Sorry Snoozeles, we'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can," with a grin on her face. Then the master earthbender used her skills to bring up a spike of earth under the older boy sending him flying into the air a good ten feet before he landed on his back. He then, quite comically hopped around in his sleeping bag mumbling some more gibberish, though Naruto thought he could make out the words 'making noises' before Sokka hopped away from the duo.

"So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? Trembler. Or maybe how to make a whirlpool out of land!" Aang said eagerly making accompanying hand motions, even twirling around for the whirlpool thing. Toph stopped him during a spin and said,

"Let's start with 'move a rock." Aang clapped his hands and said,

"Sounds good! Sounds good!"

They moved to another location, where Toph used earthbending to get two boulders of about equal size in front of both teacher and beginning student. She barked out a few orders to Gaara who understood and went off on his own. This let her focus on Aang.

"The key to earthbending is your stance. You need to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element," Toph said and with that she shoved Aang over, "You need to be like a rock yourself."

"Like a rock, got it," Aang said while he rubbed his side where Toph's hand made contact.

"Good. Now, the actual motion of this one is pretty simple," said Toph as she got into position. She then sent the boulder flying with one move.

"Ready to give it a try?" she asked turning to her student. Aang slipped into a stance and said,

"I'm ready," With that he did the correct movements only instead of sending the boulder forwards, he was sent flying, backwards into poor Appa, who was still sleeping.

A still sleeping Sokka, who was still in his sleeping bag said,

"Rock beats airbender," while trying not to laugh.

"Get out of the sleeping bag moron," Sasuke said from nearby.

Also on this day, Sakura was starting Sokka's ninja training that day in exchange for help with her hand to hand combat. Specifically the stuff he'd learned on Kyoshi. Hinata was going to work on advanced water bending while Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara were forced to work on other skills alone. Naruto, and a couple dozen clones were working on general accuracy and hand-to-hand combat that didn't require the use of his airbending stances, though half a dozen clones were also working on airbending. That's when Sasuke observed something.

'Airbending moves almost exactly like the Gentle Fist,' he thought.

**With Aang, Katara, and Toph,**

"I don't understand what went wrong. He did it exactly like you did," Katara said.

"Maybe there's another way. Maybe if I came at the boulder from a different angle," Aang said as he walked with his hands held sort of in the same way Toph grabbed him by his collar and said,

"No. That's the problem: You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickitiy-trick that's going to move that rock!" Toph said, shoving Aang, "You've got to face it head on. And when I say 'head on' I mean like this!" With that Toph charged and jumped at the rock, headfirst mind you, and completely shattered it. A Naruto clone happened to be close enough to watch and shuddered, glad that they weren't learning that.

Aang backed up kind of scared by Toph's intensity which prompted Katara to meddle.

"I've been teaching Aang for a while now and he responds well to a positive teaching experience. Lots of encouragement and praise, kind words. If he's doing something wrong, maybe a gentle nudge in the right direction," she said.

"Thanks Katara. A gentle nudge, I'll try that," Toph said in an overly girly voice. Had Gaara been within earshot he would have shaken his head

**With the others,**

"Naruto, what are you doing?" asked Sasuke.

"The academy fighting style," Naruto replied.

"You're doing it wrong," Sasuke said.

"Damn," Naruto said.

"Pay attention, Dead Last," Sasuke said as he settled into a firebending stance.

"Why are you showing me that?" asked Naruto.

"Haven't you noticed that all the bending disciplines are martial arts?" Sasuke said.

"Not really, but I didn't really think of it that way. So my airbending is also like a better form of my fighting?" Naruto said.

"Sort of, but you don't really use normal fighting tactics when you airbend," said Sasuke, "Aang's taught you to use more of a trickster fighting style in combination with bending. It'd also throw firebenders off guard if you used a firebending stance to fight with."

"Cool!" Naruto yelled before most of his clones focused on Sasuke's lessons. The rest worked with parts of airbending.

**With the Fire Nation Exiles,**

Iroh awoke to some pain and stiffness as Zuko explained to him. When informed of Azula's 'surprise attack.' Iroh was not surprised at her tactics at all. But decided it was time to resume Zuko's training. After covertly dumping Zuko's horrible attempt at making tea.

At the same time as Toph's lecture about 'no other angles' with Sakura and Sokka,

"What's with the leaf?" Sokka asked as he fixed Sakura's stance.

"You're to try to stick it to your forehead with chakra. Memorize those seals yet?" Sakura said as she repeated the form.

"Rat, Ox, Rooster, Ram, Monkey, Dog, Rabbit, Horse, Snake, Tiger, Boar, Dragon," Sokka recited as he made the corresponding hand signs, mixing up a few.

"No, that's Ram, and that's Monkey!" Sakura said stopping and fixing his hands, "Now make a Ram sign and try to feel your chakra."

"I'm not feeling anything," Sokka said.

"Then go meditate," Sakura said as she continued the first stance she'd been shown: Unlike Naruto, she didn't have the luxury of speed learning via mass amounts of shadow clones, which he'd made more of as the day progressed. Sokka just left afterwards when he was sure Sakura wasn't looking.

**Back with Aang and Toph in the training area,**

"KEEP YOUR KNEES HIGH TWINKLE TOES!" Toph said as Aang struggled to carry a huge boulder on his back, and that was before Toph started bending earth spikes under his feet. The next step was then Toph rubbing her hands together before sticking them into a rock as if it was some of Gaara's sand. Aang tried this and hurt his hand.

Toph continued to train her student with little success even taking Sokka's club from him and blindfolding Aang as he tried to hit stone pillars with it. He made some progress through the day. Even managing to push back Toph whenever she was covered with rocks. That and he kept his footing as his tossed and caught a rock weight, while standing on two rock pillars even after Toph used bending to try to knock him off. She rose up on one of her own and nodded approvingly to Aang.

**On the other side of the canyon,**

Sokka, as one could guess from his involvement with Toph's one training exercise, was not meditating to try to get in touch with his chakra. Instead he was in a tree stalking a little furry cub.

"You're awfully cute, but unfortunately for you, you're made of meat," Sokka said before it got close enough for him to jump at it with his machete. Only to get stuck in a ditch. The baby critter came closer and Sokka tried again only to sink lower.

"You are one lucky little meat creature," He said to it as he was stuck in an awkward position. The creature, against its better judgment, seemed to like Sokka.

**Fire Nation Duo,**

Iroh explained that Lightning was called the cold fire because one had to have a calm mind to use it, to be free of all conflicting emotions.

"That's why we're drinking tea, it calms the mind," Zuko said.

"Yeah, good point I mean, Yes," Iroh said. They moved outside where Iroh further explained,

"There's energy all around us. It's both Yin and Yang. Positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance. And the moment the energy comes crashing back together you provide release and guidance creating lightning."

Then Iroh demonstrated by bending lightning himself, sending bolts into the blue sky.

"I'm ready to try it," Zuko said as he watched.

"Remember, once you separate the energy, you do not command it, you are only its humble guide. Breathe first," Iroh warned. The scarred prince tried it only to have fire explode in his face.

**Toph, Aang, and Katara,**

"This time we're going to try something different. Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock. Get in your horse stance!" Aang did so.

"I'm going to roll that boulder down that hill at you. If you have the attitude of an earthbender you'll stay in your stance and stop it, like this!" Toph said and demonstrated how to stop it. It was then that Katara decided to butt in.

"Toph, are you sure this is really the best way to teach Aang earthbending?" she said as she walked over with Momo on her shoulders.  
>"I'm glad you said something," Toph said holding up a finger to Katara, "Actually there is a better way." With that second sentence Toph had ripped off Aang's sash and tied it around his eyes, "That way he'll really have to sense the vibrations of the bolder to stop it. Thank you, Katara."<p>

"Yeah, thanks Katara," Aang said grumpily. Katara laughed nervously.

Everything was in position, Aang blindfolded at the bottom of the hill, Katara off to the side with Momo on her head. Toph at the top of the hill. Then the blind earthbender sent the boulder rolling right at Aang!

**With the Ninjas**,

Hinata had decided to spar with a Naruto clone. Sasuke noticed this and called the real Naruto over.

"Could both of you go through your stances for Airbending and Gentle Fist respectively?" Sasuke said.

"Alright?" Hinata said very confused. Naruto nodded before they both went through identical stances, though, Naruto's kicked up air with them.

"Just as I thought," said Sasuke, "Identical."

"That's just weird," Naruto said.

"I'm going to go back to working on waterbending," Hinata said before she walked away.

"Hey! Get back to work!" Naruto yelled. The clones all made rude noises but did as told. Gaara went back to work on moving earth and not sand with his bending. Though, moving the sand was not truly bending. But very similar.

**Toph, Aang, and Katara,**

The boulder rolled right to Aang and the monk, jumped over it. Toph ran right up to Aang angry as the airbender removed his blindfold. She put her fact in his and he said,

"I guess I just panicked. I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing **_to_** say, you blew it! You had a perfect stance and perfect form but when it came right to it, you didn't have the guts!" Toph said punching him and sending him on his butt. Aang looked up at her and said,

"I know, I'm sorry," properly contrite but Toph was still angry.

"Yeah you are sorry. If you're not tough enough to stop the rock then at least give it the pleasure of smooshing you instead of jumping out of the way like jelly-boned wimp!" she yelled, "Now do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?" Aang looked right at her and bowed his head.

"No, I don't think I do," he admitted.

"Aang, it's no big deal. You'll take a break and try earthbending again when you're ready," Katara said butting in big time, "Besides, you still have a lot of waterbending to work on, ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Aang said as he followed Katara.

"Yeah, whatever, go splash around until you feel better," Toph said as she walked off.

**Iroh and Zuko,**

Iroh had been afraid that Zuko would be unable to lightning bend because of his inner turmoil. So he went a different route. And knowing Zuko's attitude towards Azula Iroh made sure to tell Zuko that the move he was going to teach him was one even Azula didn't know. Zuko looked very eager to learn.

**With the ninjas,**

"Has anyone seen Sokka?" Sakura asked while training, "He was supposed to be trying to get his chakra to come out."

**In the ditch,**

"You probably think I deserve this, don't you," Sokka said to the cub on his head, "I'm sorry I tried to eat you but that's how things work, big things eat smaller things. Ok you're cute. I promise if I get out of this situation I'll give up meat and live a karmically correct vegetarian life, even though meat's so good." The cub ran off and returned with an apple for Sokka.

"See my karma's already getting better," he said. He couldn't reach the apple so he flung the boomerang at it,

"Now come back," he ordered the inanimate object.

**Back at Camp**,

"Nope, not in a while," Naruto said with a shrug.

"He probably went looking for meat," Sasuke said dismissively.

**With Katara, Aang, and Hinata,**

While Katara and Aang worked on passing a glob of water back and forth, Hinata was on the water going through both gentle first and waterbending forms.

"If fire and water are opposites, what's the opposite of air?" Katara asked Aang.

"Earth I guess," Aang said dejectedly.

"That's why you're having problems with this, you're bending your natural opposite. I know you'll figure it out," Katara said as she broke off a piece of bamboo and looked over at Hinata who nodded,

"Think fast!" she said flinging it at Aang at the same time as a wave of water came from Hinata. Aang cut the bamboo in half and deflected the wave.

"You have the reflexes of a waterbending master," Katara said bowing to Aang.

"Thanks Katara. Sifu Katara," Aang said bowing back,

"And Hinata, you finally mastered attacking with some strength behind your moves," Katara said smiling at the other girl.

"Thank you," Hinata said smiling and speaking in a, dare I say, confident tone.

**Zuko and Iroh,**

Iroh explained the elements: Fire was the element of power, Earth the element of strength, air the element of freedom and water the element of change.

"This four elements talk is sounding like avatar talk," Zuko said.

"It's the combination for four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful," Iroh said, "It can make you more powerful too because the move I'm going to show you I learned from studying the waterbenders."

**Main camp,**

It was near sunset and Aang was meditating on a rock while Toph walked up to a formation not too far from him before she sat down.

"Hey Aang I found these nuts in your bag. I figured you wouldn't mind. And even if you did, you're too much of a push over to do anything about it," Toph said. Aang opened his eyes a little, annoyed at the attempt to bait him.

"As a matter of fact, I don't mind. I'm happy to share anything I have," Aang said before he tried to get back to meditating. Not far from Toph and Aang were the others minus Sokka around a camp fire.

"You know I'm really glad you feel that way because I also have this great new nutcracker," Toph said as she twirled Aang's glider staff around before, CRACK!

Naruto looked over to see Toph using Aang's glider as a nutcracker. He also winced as he saw her repeatedly beat the antique weapon/mode of transportation against nut shells.

"I'd rather you-, it's an antique hand crafted by the monks! It's a delicate instrument!" Aang protested.

"It's not the only delicate instrument around here," Toph as she and Momo ate the exposed meat of the nuts.

Then Naruto saw Toph pick up his and try to do the same thing.

"HEY!" He yelled along with a bunch of freshly summoned clones who converged on the blind girl. Her skills in earthbending helped her eliminate all the clones but the original managed to complete his goal: retrieving his staff.

"See, you need to be like Loudmouth," she said as a taunt to the bald monk before she left bashing Aang's glider staff on stuff. Naruto went to interfere but Sasuke stopped him.

Naruto winced before he went back to his seat by the fire next to Gaara Sasuke sitting on the opposite side of the blonde with Hinata on his other side blocking Sakura from sitting next to the avenger.

"Is she always like that?" Naruto asked Gaara.

"Yes," Gaara said. Suddenly Naruto remembered something,

"Oh, right, what's the name of the hermit who took care of you?" asked Naruto.

"I've already told you that he told me to call him 'Minato,'" Gaara said.

"Yeah but what was his last name?" Naruto asked.

"He didn't say," Gaara said after a moment, "He fixed my seal so I'm very grateful to him."

"Fixed it?" Naruto said, "What was wrong with it?"

"You remember how I was when we met?" Gaara said.

"Yeah, kind of crazy," Naruto said bluntly.

"That's because my seal was, how did he put it? Ah, 'a complete and total blunder.' He said it was a miracle that Shukaku hadn't escaped. The voice I called 'Mother' was really my demon trying to drive me insane," Gaara replied.

"Oh, Naruto said, "I guess I'm lucky the Fourth did my sealing then."

"It's nearly sundown and Sokka's not back yet," They heard Katara said.

"We'll find him faster if we split up," Aang said.

"We'll help too," Naruto said. The others stood and began to split off, or in Naruto's case, summon a large number of clones and split off.

"He'd better hope I'm not the one to find him," Sakura said annoyed as she walked off in a different direction.

Aang found Sokka and was unable to get him out with strength or airbending. Also refusing to attempt earthbending or going to get Toph. It was at this point the sabre-tooth mooselion cub came back being identified as 'Fufucudleypoops' to Aang. Of course it was after Aang identified it as a sabre-tooth mooselion cub and asked where it's mother was that the very large, very angry mama decided to make her presence known.

**Fire Nation exiles,**

Iroh explained how flowing energy was what waterbenders utilized with their bending and how to direction the lightning as if it were chi. Though how it was directed was critical, if Zuko did one step wrong he could die. After teaching Zuko how to feel the chi flowing and deeming he'd got it Zuko was ready to try it with real lightning. Iroh refused to throw lightning at his nephew. Looking at the storm brewing in the distance Zuko turned to Iroh and said,

"If you won't help me, then I'll go find my own lightning," before he took off on the ostrichhorse.

**With Aang and Sokka,**

"We found your cub," Aang said looking at the angry female as if that would help. To make matters worse, Fufucudleypoops cried to his mom which had Aang setting the cub down to run over to its mother.

"See, everything's fine," Aang said trying to reason with a wild animal. Then she charged.

"Aang, this is bad, get me out of here!" Sokka yelled. Aang stood his ground and sent the mooselion over his head.

"Aang this is really bad, you have to eartbend me out!" Sokka said panicked. Aang was equally scared but tried going through the motions with nothing as the result. When he realized the female was going to charge again he leapt onto a rock formation and drew the attention to him before he use airbending to send the beast off to the side. She tried to charge again but this time Aang, instead of using her own momentum to send her over his head like the first time used an enormous gust to send her backwards before the beast left.

Clapping was heard and they turned to see Toph was sitting there and was also the source of the clapping.

"What are you doing here?" Sokka asked.

"Just enjoying the show," Toph replied glibly.

"What? You were here the whole time?" Aang asked.

"Pretty much," Toph replied.

"Why didn't you do something? Sokka was in trouble! I was in trouble! You could have gotten him out and helped us get away!" Aang said.

"I guess it just didn't occur to me," Toph said before she tossed another nut down to be cracked. But this time before she could use Aang's staff to crack it, Aang stopped her swing.

"Enough, I want my staff back," Aang said. Toph seemed very impressed as she jumped up,

"Do it now!" she said.

"What?" Aang asked.

"Earthbend, Twinkletoes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast. And even more impressive, you just stood your ground against me. You've got the stuff," Toph said.

"But-," Aang said,

"Do it!" Toph said. So there was a boulder she'd set up for him and he managed to move it this time around.

"You did it! You're an earthbender," Toph said.

"I can't believe it," Aang said excited.

"Ah, this is really a wonderful touching moment. Now could one of you get me out of here so I can give you both a big snuggly hug," Sokka said. Apparently lack of food affected him greatly. Aang turned and confidently said,

"No problem, Sokka!"

"Actually, you should probably let me do that. You're still a little new to this. You might accidentally crush him," Toph said.

"No crushing please," Sokk said still out of it. Toph got him out part way and then dragged him out by his hair.

They returned to camp where the others had regrouped.

"You did it! You found him!" Katara said happily as she said them help Sokka back to camp.

"Did they have to?" Sasuke complained.

"Without him, who would you get your daily dose of complaining from?" Naruto said.

"Hn," Sasuke said, annoyed.

"Knock it off, dork!" Sakura said trying to hit Naruto, only to have both Hinata and Gaara stop her, the latter using sand.

"Your fawning over Sasuke and abuse of Naruto annoys me," Gaara said in a neutral voice before he released his sand and Hinata also released her grip on the pink haired girl.

Sokka tried to reveal a deep thing he'd discovered only to be upstaged by bending once again. The ninjas watched as Aang talked to Appa about being physically and mentally unmovable. Appa disproved the former by licking his owner and sending him face first into the dirt. The laughter was contagious, Sokka's being loudest.

"You," Sakura said marching right up to the disheveled teen, "Just for skipping training you're going to-."

"Look, I don't need magic to get by," Sokka said brushing her off, "But I'll help you with fighting."

Sakura fumed at his brush off but nodded in acceptance. However that didn't stop her from punching him in the arm.

"Hey!" He yelled.

"Told you she'd punch him," Naruto said. Sasuke's response, aside from muttering something about yet another sucker bet was,

"Hn."

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:Enjoy! Please go and check out my original stuff too!

And about my continuing Deaths of Ozai shorts this next one probably _wouldn't_ happen but for sort-of dark comedic purposes the situation has occurred.

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Zabuza**

_Ozai looked at the mercenary who stood over the body of his slain partner, the boy had been slain because he had protected his master from Ozai double crossing the ninja. The Fire Lord had no idea what kind of mistake he had made. Before he could react Zabuza had unleashed the Kirigakure Jutsu filled the room with fog and an eerie feeling. Ozai was no amateur to fighting so he wasn't as badly affected as some of his guards were._

_"There are many ways to kill some one. How shall I kill you?" he heard the disembodied voice say. Ozai turned, attempting to bend lightning whenever the last thing he saw was a zanbatou blade descending over his head. The mist cleared to reveal the Fire Lord had been split in twain. Around the throne room some of the guards had been driven to sucide from Zabuza's killing intent. He collected Haku's body and left._

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

**MP**: Review responses:

**Electric Rainbow**: All your questions, well everything will be coming to a head During 'The Cross Roads of Destiny' since that's the only logical spot for everything like that to collide.

**KatonKageX**: Well the whole insult thing is explained. I only have Sasuke and Naruto insult eachother once in this chapter using Dead Last and Bastard. And I'll reduce it in the future though, Sasuke will continue to insult Sokka. Their personalities will always clash. Toph tortures Sakura a little in this beginning of this chapter.

**PaperPlanes**: I couldn't do much to last chapter because it was an important episode for Aang. Well, Toph does pick on Sakura a little in this chapter and tries to tell her she's annoying but Rome wasn't built in a day. Toph is a very useful anti-Fan girl character. As for Snake Face, in all likelihood, he won't be close enough to give Sasuke the curse seal until the Invasion on the Day of Black Sun (because he's making his curse seal fire nation troops). So if Sasuke gets the seal, it'll happen fairly late in the story. As for the Konoha Retrieval Team plus Minato, they most likely won't meet until Post Cross Roads of Destiny or after the Invasion. As for bending modifiying techniques like Chidori or Rasengan, that's very possible.

**General Statement to All**: You may like or dislike what I did instead but the way I have certain characters characerized, it made sense like this.

* * *

><p><em>Quote: "Go get your shovel, We'll dig a deep hole, To bury the castle, bury the castle," Brick by Boring Brick, Paramore<em>

**Chapter 12: The Library**

Aang was sitting on the ground with a recorder in his hands. The others were standing around him and Appa was standing off nearby with the balloon mored to a tree. Sokka grew imapatient and said,

"So what's here?"

"A lot actually," Toph said bending down and touching the ground.

"Shh! I know you can see underground but please don't ruin the surprise," said Aang before he played a 'C'. Next to him a prarie dog popped up and sang a 'C.' Making Aang laugh.

"Neat!" Sakura said, "Aren't they Sasuke?"

"Whatever," Sasuke said.

"You're just jealous, Emo Princess," Toph said annoyed with Sasuke's attitude.

"How dare you call him that!" asked Sakura. Meanwhile Naruto was laughing so hard he'd fallen on the ground and was rolling around with tears streaming down his face.

"Forget Shrieky, from now on, you're Fan Girl," said Toph.

"WHY YOU!" Sakura yelled trying to charge Toph who merely blocked her with a small floating rock. Naruto was torn between defending his long time crush and laughing harder. He chose to laugh harder and damn the consequences. Even Sasuke had to suppress a chuckle at the look on Sakura's face as she tried to move forwards in spite of the rock holding her back.

"Yeah this is interesting and all but we need to go gather intelligence," Sokka said.

"Ok, we'll go look for Sokka's intelligence," said Katara smirking which made Toph giggle (while dropping her rock) and Naruto continue to laugh.

"Well La ti da," Sokka said. The singing Prairie Dogs then came up and sang an A, a B, and a C# (Da being most similar to the solfegge syllable of 'Di') which had the gang laughing at him even harder as they began to pick their next mini-vacation, something that had Sokka upset.

"What about the Misty Palms Oasis," Katara said pointing to it on the map.

"It's a pristine wonder with cool refreshing waters. And I don't usually use the word 'Pristine,'" Aang said as they loaded up their respective conveyances and headed there.

"I guess it's changed owners in the last one hundred years," Aang said sheepishly as they arrived a dump. It looked about as bad as that town they'd ended up in after that long chase given by Azula and her two minions. There was a block of ice in the center instead of the ice pillars drawn on the map that a dog was licking.

They entered one of the dingy saloons and saw a man with daos making fruit drinks demonstrating great skill and precision with them. Sokka went over to have one whenever the man, whose drink they saw getting made whenever they arrived smacked into Aang getting his clothes wet.

"I'm very sorry," the man said.

"That' ok, I clean up easy," Aang said airbending himself clean as well as dry.

"Ah! You're a living relic!" The man said.

"Thanks I guess," Aang said.

"I'm Professor Zei, I teach anthropology at Ba Sing Sei University. Which temple do you hail from?" the man asked as he pulled out various devices to measure Aang.

"Uh, the Southern Air Temple," Aang replied.

"Splendid. Tell me, what is the main agricultural export of your people," he asked as he measured Aang's head with calipers.

"Um, do fruit pies count as an agricultural export?" Aang said umcomfortably.

"Excellent!" Professor Zei.

"Sakura, quit fawning over him," Toph grumbled as she sat with Sakura who was sitting near Sasuke who was trying to talk with Naruto about something. Well it was less of a conversation and more of their typical, antagonistic, sort of brotherly banter. Hinata was sitting next to Naruto as he and Sasuke quipped back and forth. Gaara was sitting sipping his drink next to Toph.

"Hey Hinata, what do you think?" Naruto asked.

"About what?" she asked confused.

"About whether or not this flash guy's our Flash," said Naruto.

"Common sense says it's not possible," Sasuke said.

"Not _probable_," Naruto said cheekily.

"I don't believe that it would be plausible that there would be someone so like someone from our world here when there don't seem to be any other cases such as that," Hinata said after a moment and Naruto smiled at her to encourage her.

"Hn. I'm surprised you can use probable correctly, Dead Last," Sasuke said smirking.

"Whatever, Bastard," Naruto said without any anger or venom.

"Why do you let him call you that?" Sakura said.

"IT's called banter, Fan Girl," Toph snorted through her drink as Sokka talked to Zei about trips through the desert, "If you weren't fawning over Emo here then you'd know about it."

"Why you-," Sakura sputtered.

"What Lady Toph is trying to say is that if you were to stop obsessing over your teammate who very visibly dislikes your fawning over him, you might realize that Naruto and Sasuke aren't actually insulting each other," Gaara said before returning to his mango drink, which he decided he liked very much.

"Ok, so we're picking mini-vacation's right so I decide to spend mine at the library!" Sokka said.

"What about me?" asked Toph.

"Sorry, you have to work here longer to get vacation time," Sokka said.

"So I guess I have next pick after you," Naruto said.

"Er, sure," said Sokka.

"But it's impossible to get there," Professor Zei protested.

"Say, would you like to see my Skybison?" asked Aang. They walked outside and there were people who were dressed head to toe in clothing, their masks reminiscent of Tusken Raider masks from the Western Movie 'Star Wars' that Naruto had seen once when Sarutobi had taken him to a movie when he was small.

"Shoo Sandbenders! Away from the skybison!" said Professor Zei. One of them hissed at him before they got into their sand sleds and moves using a sand whirlwind. Gaara looked at them and was not impressed.

"I know, Sandy, you could take them all in your sleep," Toph said patting him on the arm to nurse his slightly bruised ego.

"Pardon?" asked Professor Zei.

"Gaara's probably the most powerful Sandbender in the world," said Toph nonchalantly.

"I would not go far as to say that, Lady," said Gaara with a shrug.

"So going into the desert should be familiar territory for Gaara, then," said Sakura.

"Interesting you should say that," Professor Zei, "When he looks nothing like any Sandbender I've ever seen."

"That's because they're not from this world," Sokka said in an effort to impress Professor Zei.

"SOKKA!" The ninjas yelled angrily with Aang and Katara joining them.

"World, huh? You been holding out on me Sandy," Toph said.

"Since the buffoon spilled secrets that weren't his to tell, Gaara is from a place called the Village Hidden in Sand or Suna. It is, as you might guess, hidden in a vast desert," Sasuke said.

"How did you get here?" asked Professor Zei.

"We got sucked up by a vortex because of the fact me and Gaara have demons sealed in us and it was seeking lots of chakra because your world needed it," Naruto said.

"Fascinating. Perhaps Wan Shi Tong's Library will have a book that has the knowledge of how to return you to your home," said Professor Zei once he'd climbed on Appa. He looked at the ninjas as if waiting for them to board whenever Sakura canceled the genjutsu on the balloon which they climbed in and Sasuke powered up with a fire blast. A Naruto clone undid the mooring before it dispersed and they took off. Once over the desert Gaara did his sand flying thing.

"Oh great beast tell me, are you the last of your people," Professor Zei. Appa bellowed a little and Professor Zei, moaned, "Oh if you could talk, the stories you could tell." Then Momo, the lemurbat being another remnant of the Air Nomad people, began to chatter at him earning a,

"Shush chatty monkey!"

They flew for a while and Professor Zei asked,

"So, what kinds of bending do you have in your world?" yelling to the ninjas in the balloon that was flying parallel.

"We don't have bending. We manipulate elements through chakra and some of us have affinity towards one of our five elements making our particular techniques in that element stronger and cost less," said (well yelled) Sakura in reply. Naruto jumped and glided from the balloon to Appa, landing next to Zei.

"We didn't learn bending until we got here," said Naruto as he closed his staff.

"Fascinating. Where do you hail from? The same place as your sandbending friend?" asked Zei.

"No. Me, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata all come from The Village Hidden in the Leaves or Konoha which is in the Land of Fire," said Naruto, "Someday I will be Hokage or the leader of our village. It's my dream."

"Ugh, don't get him started on that," Sokka moaned.

"I don't see you having a dream," Naruto snapped.

"My dream is to help Aang stop the Fire Nation," Sokka said snappishly.

"What about beyond that?" asked Naruto.

"Why plan that far ahead when you don't know if you'll get there," Sokka replied.

"It's better to have something to shoot for than to end up with nothing to work towards," said Aang.

"So what about you, huh?" Sokka asked Aang who glanced towards Katara and blushed.

"Look there it is!" Toph said getting everyone's hopes up before she said, "That's what it will sound like when one of your finds it." She made a funny face and waved a hand in front of her eyes demonstrating she was blind.

"Hey, can't either of your demons sense it?" asked Sokka suddenly.

"Why ask that?" asked Naruto.

"Well your Fox guy knew something was up with that swamp so maybe he can sense a library from the spirit world," Sokka said.

'Fuzzy?' asked Naruto.

'**What do you want, brat**?' Nine-Tails responded.

'Sense anything weird out here aside from Gaara's demon?' Naruto asked.

'**No-Wait, Oh no! Not HIM!**' the Fox moaned.

"Fuzzy senses someone," Naruto said just as Sokka spotted something sticking out of the sand.

"It's not it after all! All my life's work wasted," Professor Zei said before a little tan fox appeared with a scroll in it's mouth.

"What's that?" asked Katara.

"You seriously don't recognize a fox when you see one?" Naruto asked incredulously while he could mentally hear the Nine-Tailed Fox snickering at them.

"Haven't you noticed all their animals are bizarre and the normal animals we take for granted really aren't present?" Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"Well, now that you mention it," Naruto said as he actually thought about it. Sokka compared it to the drawing Professor Zei had and confirmed it was part of the library, just the top of a really tall column.

"It's buried! Oh well, time to start excavation," Zei said as he pulled out a small shovel and began to dig.

"Not necessary," Toph said as she slamed a hand against the exposed portion, "It's really big and it's hollow."

"Get everyone back," Gaara said, "I'll clear the sand as best I can."

"Everyone, I'd do as the man says," Toph said as she climbed back onto Appa. Everyone did so and Aang maneuvered Appa back as the balloon floated away.

'Shukaku. You owe me for all the misery you've caused in my life.' Gaara thought sent.

'**I owe you nothing, whelp**,' Shukaku said.

'I know you've sensed the Nine-Tails within Naruto. He can and will use in demon's energy against you,' Gaara sent.

'**Never forget, you owe me for that incident 3000 years ago**!' The Nine-Tails's voice rang in the mindscape of Gaara and Shukaku.

'**Fine, I'll lend the whelp my power**,' Shukaku grumbled, '**Stinking foxes and their sucker bets leading to debts you can never repay**.'

Gaara's green eyes turned yellow as the sand began to swirl creating what looked to be a localized sandstorm around the exposed portion of the library. Those who were flying had to go even further to avoid the sand.

"How is he doing that?" asked Professor Zei.

"Well, it was mentioned that we have demons in us. Gaara's demon is the One-Tailed Racoon Dog who is also known as Shukaku and he has power over sand," Naruto said.

"What's yours?" asked Professor Zei.

"Mine's the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. His special thing was nearly unlimited chakra, I think," Naruto said.

'**Don't forget that most powerful of the tailed beasts, brat**!'

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Fuzzy also wants me to tell you that he's the most powerful of the tailed beasts," Naruto said.

'**Wan Shi Tong isn't going to just let some demon host uncover what he probably wants buried**,' Nine-Tails said.

'Then why let him do it?' Naruto asked.

'**To piss off that old, fuddy-duddy owl**,' Nine-Tails replied. Gaara stopped when he saw that the building was sinking back into the sand no matter how much he tried to uncover it.

Appa landed in the shadow of the exposed window.

"You guys go without me," Toph said, "I've held books before and they just don't do it for me."

"Then I will stay with Lady Toph," Gaara said.

"You sure?" asked Naruto.

"Just go," Toph said.

They were climbing and there was a noticeable owl theme supporting what Nine-Tails had said.

"Fuzzy mentioned letting Gaara do his sand thing would upset some owl guy," Naruto said once they'd made it to solid ground.

"Indeed. Nine-Tails has never really gotten along with anyone," a voice said startling Naruto who turned and saw a giant owl, "It is surprising that one managed to seal him into a mortal vessel so strongly that your essences are merging."

"How long?" asked Naruto nervously.

"It will take a year here or less the more often you call upon his power," said the Owl, "I must ask you all to leave: Humans are no longer welcome here. They only abuse knowledge to get the edge on other humans."

"What about knowledge for knowledge's sake?" Sokka said straining for a way to stay in the mystical library, "And Aang's the Avatar, he can totally vouch for us."

"Oh, yeah, I vouch for them," Aang said after Sokka had dragged the twelve year old in front of him.

"Very well, but you must contribute some knowledge of your own," Wan Shi Tong said.

"Great Wan Shi Ton, I humbly offer this," the Professor said holding out a large, ancient tome.

"First edition, very nice," The owl said swiping it.

"I have a waterbending scroll," said Katara pulling it out and showing it to the spirit owl.

"The drawing are quite spectacular," the Owl said before the took it.

"Um, Oh, how about this!" Aang said pulling out his wanted poster.

"I suppose that will do," Wan Shi Tong said in a long suffering tone. He faced the ninjas.

"Do you have anything to write with?" asked Sakura, "We have knowledge we can contribute but it's not written down."

"Most unusual," Wan Shi Tong.

"**Stuff it, Tong! Let the ninja whelps stay or I will make the events of a certain incident quite public throughout the realms once I get dragged back into the spirit world by this whelp's seal**," Nine-Tails said taking control. Naruto shoved him back with all his mental strength and clamped his mouth shut.

"Threats do not work on me," said Wan Shi Tong, "Just seeing his seal will be enough: I know better than to take that." Naruto raised his tunic and showed the owl the seal whenever it began to glow red and Naruto screamed.

"What did you do?" Hinata growled so viciously that they others did a double take, her byuakugan once again activated by anger. Sasuke was also angry while Sakura stood staring in shock.

"I did nothing," said Wan Shi Tong, "It must be reacting to my presence."

**Naruto's Mindscape**,

Naruto found himself face down in water. He sat up choking and spitting the water out.

"What the hell, Fuzzy!" Naruto said whenever he noticed the cage was gone and the Nine-Tails was held in place by a chain collar with a piece of paper with 'Seal' written on it attached to the front in the same fashion as a dog tag.

"**This is not my doing, brat! This is yours for letting Wan Shi Tong anywhere near the seal**," Nine-Tails snarled.

"How was I supposed to know!" Naruto snapped back, "You didn't exactly tell to not to."

"**I was thinking you'd have the common sense to NOT do anything like this**," Nine-Tails roared. Naruto took a step forwards whenever he heard the clinking of a chain. He looked down to see there was a manacle on his ankle attached to the fox's collar. It was made of red chakra that pulsed blue occasionally.

"I was hoping you'd be older whenever something like this happened, but oh well," said a voice.

"**Kushina**," Nine-Tails said in shock. Naruto gaped at the redheaded woman who walked over wearing a green blouse and a black skirt with an apron on it. Her long red hair was loose with only a few bangs being held back by a hair clip. Her eyes were green-blue but they were a very familiar shape. The shape as his own eyes,

"Hello Naruto. It's good to meet you again," she said smiling at him widely, "I'm Kushina Uzumaki."

"**Just tell the brat you're his mother already**," Nine-Tails said impatiently.

"Stuff it fur ball," Kushina said without any heat, "But yes, I'm your mother." Naruto ran over to her and hugged her.

"So, are you dead?" Naruto asked almost afraid that she'd answer no.

"I'm afraid so. I put some of my chakra into the seal so I could meet you someday," Kushina said rubbing his head, "Your hair's just as unruly as your father's. Sorry about that."

"What happened to you, both of you?" Naruto asked as he let go, tears trying to spill out, but he wasn't letting them.

"Well, when a demon host has their demon forcefully removed they begin to die," said Kushina, "I was the second host to fur ball over there. My clanswoman was the first. You know her better as the wife of the first Hokage."

"**What she's trying to say is that you stinking Uzumaki have been pestering me for over 100 years start with the F_g Wife of the God Damn F_g Son of a B_h First Hokage**," Nine-Tails swore.

"Oh," said Naruto, "That's awesome!"

"What happened to us is a bit of a story. The night you were born a man with a mask attacked. He knew that my seal would be weakest during childbirth. So he held you hostage and tried to force your father to choose between me and you. He still managed to get me and let the Fox out. Your father managed to stop the fur ball from stomping me to death activating a seal that had been placed on me for safety. That man took to sealing like a born Uzumaki, I couldn't have asked for a better student," Kushina said dreamily for a second.

"So after a while your father was torn between protecting the village and trying to defeat that man. He nearly did so until the man made the fox go completely berserk. That coward used the lull to escape. That's when your father decided to seal the Fox in you. I was going to seal him back into myself using my own special kind of chakra to take him with me," Kushina said and she nudged the chain on Naruto's foot with her own foot,

"He disagreed because, even though I was going to die anyway my death wouldn't be enough to make the Nine Tailed Fox go to the other world for long enough. So he decided to do the Demon Dead Consuming Seal, that way you would drag this miscreant's furry ass with you whenever you finally passed on (which we both were praying was to be from old age). Before your father could even start to put chakra in the seal, a strange vortex thing-y appeared and began to try to suck him in. I knew I couldn't hold the Foxy over there for too long so I took over doing the seal."

"What? But I was told the Fourth Hokage was the one to do this?" Naruto said in shock.

"Well he tried, but, like I said, your father got caught in some strange vortex," Kushina said nonchalantly. She noticed the look on Naruto's face, "Please tell me that they at least told you who your father was?" Blank almost awed staring was her response.

"I'm going to kick Sarutobi's old wrinkly ass next time I see that bastard!" Kushina raged.

"So h-he's alive?" asked Naruto in shock.

"Yes. I don't know where he landed, though. The Shinigami said dimensional vortexes are tricky to track," said Kushina shrugging, "As one host to another, I'm sorry you got saddled with this and got dumped on by that ungrateful village."

"That's ok," Naruto said rubbing away tears, "I had the most awesome parents ever."

"I'm almost out of time. So do you have any questions?" asked Kushina.

"Why aren't there any Uzumakis in Konoha?" asked Naruto.

"Well that's because the Uzumaki clan isn't from Konoha. We were from a small hidden village in the Land of Whirlpool called Hidden Whirlpool or Uzushio. But during the second shinobi war Iwa wiped out both the Land of Whirlpool and our village because Uzushio was renowned for its seal masters. The Uzumaki clan being a clan of some standing in the village before we were all scattered to the winds. The swirl you see on the back of chuunin vests is Konoha's way of remembering our friendship," Kushina said, "My time is up. Never forget I love you and so does your father, wherever Minato might be."

Naruto came too with Hinata and Sakura hovering over him anxiously.

"NARUTO!" Hinata yelled hugging him.

"Naruto! I'm sorry for being such a jerk!" Sakura said as she joined the hug.

"Hn. It only took him falling comatose," Sasuke muttered, "He's back, that's what matters." That was as close as the Uchiha was going to get to agreeing with Sakura and apologizing for some of his behavior, but Naruto would take what he got. The girls let him go so he could sit up on his own.

"How long was I out?" asked Naruto as he rubbed his head.

"An hour. The others went searching the library for information while we promised to look after you," said Sasuke.

"Thanks," Naruto said grinning.

"So what happened?" asked Sakura.

"My seal reacted badly to Wan Shi Tong," Nartuo said, "But I totally got to meet my mom!"

"What?" asked Sakura.

"She put some of her chakra in my seal so she could meet me," said Naruto grinning broadly. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell them who his father was but that would seem more like bragging. That wouldn't stop him from saying something normally, but it did this time.

Elsewhere,

Aang and Katara had put down their scrolls, Aang's speaking of Lionturtles and Katara's about a left handed past life of Aang as Sokka snuck around putting things in his bag.

"Hi!"

"AHHH!" Aang and Katara yelled in unison. They turned to see Naruto was there.

"Naruto!" Aang said hugging the blonde. Katara waited for him to let go before she hugged him too.

"Are you ok?" asked Katara.

"I'll be fine," Naruto smiled, "So what kind of information we looking for?"

"Well anything about the Fire Nation, mostly maps," said Katara.

"Look at this!" Sokka said running over, "Oh, hi Naruto, this mentions the darkest day in Fire Nation history."

"But what happened? There's only a date," said Katara looking at the piece of paper.

"Let's go find out," said Naruto eagerly.

"I like the way you're thinking," Sokka said.

"They do say, bird of a feather flock together," Sasuke remarked from where he and the other two ninjas were standing.

"Hey!" Sokka and Naruto said indignantly.

They found the Fire Nation section of the library and all the books there were ash. Sakura was horrified more so than the others. Though this could be attributed to the fact she was a bookworm.

"What kind of monster would do this!" She yelled falling to her knees.

"Dang it! Just when I think I can finally get the edge of the Fire Nation, they already beat me here!" Sokka said.

"This must be why Wan Shi Tong banned humans," Katara said.

"I don't blame him," Hinata said looking at the ashes, "You let someone in and then they decide to destroy your stuff."

"Now I'll never find out what happened on the darkest day in Fire Nation history!" Sokka said.

"Maybe we could look elsewhere," said Aang. There was a fox nearby.

"Don't discuss that in front of the fox, he's with the owl!" Sokka said. The little creature's head drooped.

"Can you help us?" Katara asked before the fox nodded and walked away jerking its head to indicate it wanted them to follow it.

It lead them to a solarium.

"Look, the dials are there for the date to be put in. Isn't there a date on the scroll?" said Katara looking at the control mechanism. Sokka then input the date and the sky revealed stars then clouds and sun as the moon and sun moved until it was dark.

"Great, I broke it!" Sokka said.

"No, the moon's blocking the sun," Aang said.

"It's a solar eclipse. That's why it was literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Without the sun the Fire Benders couldn't bend," said Sokka.

"That makes sense considering we lost our powers during the lunar eclipse," Katara said.

"But how does this help? It's not like we don't know when the next one's going to occur," said Naruto.

"Humans are all the same," Wan Shi Tong said making everyone turn, "You're only here to get the edge on other humans, just like that Fire Nation soldier."

"We know why you're upset, we saw what he did. Don't you want revenge?" asked Sokka.

"It's clear to me that my library doesn't belong in this world," Wan Shi Tong said as he spread his wings, "I will make sure you humans never abuse its knowledge again."

Outside the Library,

Toph noticed the building begin to sink.

"Oh no!" she yelled before she placed her hands on the library to keep it from sinking further. It was then the Sandbenders showed up. Gaara, who had been meditating was startled out of his relaxed state whenever they showed up. He saw them trying to steal Appa.

The sandbenders were shocked whenever the sand they controlled rebelled and caught them all in cocoons of sand.

"How is that little girl doing this," one said as he struggled.

"She isn't," Gaara's calm voice said as he walked into view, "I should crush you right now for this."

"You won't get away with this!" one of them yelled.

"No, but neither will you," Gaara retorted

Sokka finally joined the others as they left with a date for the next eclipse.

"We have to get to Ba Sing Se to tell the Earth King about this," Sokka said as they ran, "This could help us win the war."

"Where's Professor Zei?" asked Sokka when he noticed the man was missing.

"He decided to stay here," Naruto said in a tone that implied the word, 'weirdo.' Wan Shi Tong caught up to them and if it weren't for Sokka's trusty boomerang knocking the owl out, he'd have caught them. They barely made it out before the library sunk fully. They saw Toph let go of it and sink to the ground tired. It was only then that they noticed Gaara's prisoners.

"Gaara who're they?" asked Aang.

"They tried to steal your bison," said Gaara.

"WHAT?" Aang yelled.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:Enjoy!

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Shippuden Sasuke  
><strong>

_Ozai stared down the youth before him who had just ignored his orders to go and capture the Avatar. What's more, the boys red eyes were boring into him. The tyrant threw flames at the teen who merely dodged them before he gathered a ball of lightning in his hand, the sound of birds was heard as the boy plunged it into his chest, impassively saying,_

_"Chidori." As Ozai lay dying, he saw the boy and his team of misfits leave._

Until Next Week!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

_**Bad News:**_ I know what direction that I want to go in for the next chapter but every time I pull up the document my ideas leave me so the story is going on temporary hiatus until I can get my scattered thoughts and ideas together

**MP**: Review responses:

**Anonymous(listed as such because there was no name on the review)**: Sure just request what crossover you want ^_^

**xxHinaAngelxx**: Business with other fics is understandable and I wish you luck on them. Naruto and Minato aren't going to be meeting up until Ba Sing Se.

**j skand**: Hopefully you won't have to wait too long. Thanks for reviewing!

**KatonKageX**: Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take everything you said into consideration.

**Osaki-Hime**: The tales of Ba Sing Se will still be a random collection of one shots like they were in the show. The episodes Lake Laogai or City of Walls and Secrets will be somethings for me to reconfigure. I sort of have an idea of how I want to do that but I need to find a way to focus long enough to get the ideas written down

**Paper Planes**: Naruto figuring out the two flashes are one in the same? You'll see. As for the Kushina/Naruto moment, well I more-or-less borrowed a lot from the Minato and Kushina meetings with Naruto from his battle against Pein with a few alterations to make the sections about He-Who-Just-Won't-Die more Kushina like, which was hard because I don't use -dattebyo or -ttbane at the end of Naruto or Kushina's sentences respectively. Pain killing Ozai, now that could be a multi chapter thing because of the six paths of Pain. This chapter's death is at the hands of someone outside the Avatar Universe.

* * *

><p>-<em>Previously in <span>Bolt out of the Blue<span>_-

_It was only then that they noticed Gaara's prisoners._

_"Gaara who're they?" asked Aang._

_"They tried to steal your bison," said Gaara. _

_"WHAT?" Aang yelled_.

**Chapter 13: The Desert and Ninjas**

_Quote: "Let me get this straight: You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands. And your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck,"_

_ -Lucius Fox, The Dark Knight _

Aang's eyes were filled with fury.

"Aang!" Katara said hugging him to try to calm him down. He nearly went into the Avatar state but Katara's presence managed to calm him down enough to merely glare angrily at the captured thieves.

"Bastards," Naruto spat before he chucked one of his sandals at one of the sandbenders. A hasty decision once he placed a bare foot on the burning sand.

"OUCH! HOT! HOT! HOT!" he yelped before he hopped over to where the sandal had landed and placed it back on. This alleviated the tension a little.

"You will tell us where you live so we can tell your leaders what you have done," Gaara said, "Or I'll break your limbs one by one."

Gaara's threat proved to be most effective. It found him using their little sand vessels to haul them back as he flew behind them. Following Gaara were Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph on Appa, Sasuke, Hinata and Sakura in the balloon while Naruto glided through the air via his glider and airbending.

**Earth Kingdom, random location (AKA Back with Where we left Minato), two weeks previous**,

_But before he could do anything he heard rustling and turned to see the last thing he expected,_

_"What the hell?"_

Minato stared blankly at the figure in front of him for a few moments. It was an emaciated young man of Fire Nation descent with haunted eyes. He could sense others and soon found himself surrounded by these people. They all had eighth notes tattooed on their foreheads with something on the arms that looked like a C chord, third inversion. On the necks of the 12 that surrounded him were strange seals much like the ones found on Orouchimaru's former apprentice Anko. These marks all activated which had Minato rapidly flinging his special kunai all over the place. None of these ninjas seemed to realize what he was doing, though some deflected his kunai to his desired positions without even knowing it.

"This is the Flash? Somehow I expected more," said the person who seemed to be the leader.

"Who gave you those seals?" asked Minato.

"Master Orouchimaru," said the leader cockily.

"Just figures he'd be here," Minato grumbled before he looked at his enemies. Before they could attack Minato was ripping through them in a series of Yellow Flashes, cutting them all down practically where they stood. The leader was left standing barely.

"Im-impossible! Master Orouchimaru's seals make us unstoppable!" he snarled throwing fire at Minato who flashed out of the way before he drove a spiraling sphere through the leader's torso.

"Not impossible to me," Minato said before he used a kunai to slit the throat of the leader. He gathered up all of his kunai and left the clearing.

**Fire Nation**,

"Here are your accommodations, enjoy the Earth Kingdom," said their hypnotized captain. Itachi and Kisame were catching a ride out of the Fire Nation because their prey was not there. Inquiry had revealed that the host of the Nine Tailed Fox was in the Earth Kingdom. So Earth Kingdom was where they'd go. They stood on the deck of the small steam powered ship (after checking out their meager cabins) as they waited for it to leave port.

**Earth Kingdom**,

_The rest of the retrieval team, plus their uninvited guest were ignoring Jiraiya in favor of staring at someone else._

_"How did you get here?" Jiraiya asked in shock._

"What? Did you really expect me to let Shizune come here?" asked the object of everyone's staring. The Fifth Hokage crossed her arms across her ample assets and stared everyone down.

"Since I did the same thing, I can't cast stones," said Temari after a moment. Hana Inuzuka shrugged as the rest continued to stare at the revealed legendary ninja.

"How are those on the council going to react?" asked Jiraiya.

"Shizune's told them by now that I've instated her as my regent while I am on this mission," said Tsunade, "Find anything yet?"

"There appears to be the remains of a battle nearby," said Neiji as he scouted the area.

"YOOSH! Let's check out this most youthful place!" said Lee before he took off running. The rest of the group, including Sai (who was staying with them for survival reasons) soon followed.

The Konoha ninja plus one Suna ninja arrived to see it was a massacre.

"Curse seals. Damn it! Orouchimaru's here!" Jiraiya said as he examined a corpse then he saw how the one corpse was injured.

'It can't be,' he thought until he saw something gleam in the light. He walked over to it and found it was a tri-pronged kunai with seal markings on it.

"Kakashi, look at this," said Jiraiya. The last Hatake took the kunai in surprise.

"His scent is on it!" said Kakashi.

"Whose?" asked Hana as she sniffed at it too.

"Minato Namikaze. He's alive and here's been here," said Kakashi numbly.

"The Fourth Hokage, here!" said Ten-Ten in shock with a bit of awe mixed in.

They trailed the scent of the long lost comrade only to find other instances of slaughter and the trail of their original quarry: Their missing ninjas. What they'd found was a camp that seemed hastily abandoned because their scent was hardly still detectable by Kakashi, Hana, and the Haimaru brothers. There was a strange formation of earth that looked like a tent. Not to mention, it seemed that certain jutsus for certain people just wouldn't work. For instance Anko and Kakashi still had the ability to use fire jutsu but none of the other elements aside from Lightning. Jiraiya, Guy, and Ten-Ten could still use earth jutsus, while Hana, Tsunade, and Sai could still use water. Temari and Neiji both only could use air related jutsus, though Neiji could make air move when he went through gentle fist stances. Poor Lee was normal as ever.

The group encountered a living version of the troops they'd seen massacred by Minato and were forced to fight with their strange handicaps. Kakshi managed to copy firebending from one of them and was able to return fire (pardon the pun) and help turn the tide. They left one alive for information. What they found out explained their situation perfectly. In this world, if one was lucky they could control one of four elements: Water, Earth, Fire, or Air. Those who could manipulate the elements were labeled benders.

"So it would appear we are benders as well," said Sai observing from the side.

"Not like you scum didn't know that! The blind one is an airbender! He moves like one!" said their captive.

"Interesting," said Neiji before he attempted a technique and had an air gust appear.

"So Gentle First translates to Airbending," said Jiraiya, "I sort of recognize the style they used to throw fire. It's used by monks in the Land of Lotus. Unless you know the other bending disciplines we have no further use of you."

"I'd rather die!" said the Fire Nation Sound ninja.

"As you wish," Sai said before he slit the captive's throat.

"That was most unyouthful," Guy reprimanded.

"He asked to die and I merely fulfilled his request, buffoon," said Sai coldly.

"We need to keep moving or we risk losing our trail," said Kakashi.

"Why was I even asked to come?" asked Hana as she and Kakashi were back on point with the Haimaru brothers.

"We felt it best to have more than one tracker using sense of smell," said Kakashi, "Five noses are better than one."

They arrived at the end of another massacre for the Fire Nation Sound Ninjas, only this time the one who massacred them was still around. Once the group saw him they were stunned in silence for a few moments.

Minato heard the approach of others and could feel their stares. He turned and his jaw nearly dropped at the ninja's before him.

"So this is where you've been?" asked Kakashi his tone hinting at a bit of betrayal.

"Yes, not by choice," said Minato, "Kushina sacrificed herself to save us all. I couldn't return or I'd die and make her sacrifice have been in vain."

"That's not entirely true. You were caught up in a vortex much like our targets were. The Demon Dead Consuming Seal doesn't send people to other universes," said Jiraiya, "The vortex was seeking the Nine-Tails and pulled you in instead."

"Damn! All this time I didn't try because I didn't think I could," said Minato, "All those years wasted."

"Not necessarily. You have intel on this land that we do not," said Kakashi, "And about those we're tracking, one's-."

"Naruto," said Minato smiling widely as he pulled out his son's wanted poster.

"The kid's already on wanted posters. What th-? How can anyone read this!" Jiraiya said staring at the strange lettering.

"It takes a little while," Minato said before he read it aloud,

"Wanted: Airbender Naruto Uzumaki of the Air Nation for aiding the Avatar, an enemy of the Fire Nation and for murder of His Excellency the Fire Lord's troops through the course of many skirmishes while resisting arrest; this including his involvement with destruction of multiple units at the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe: Often in the company of the Avatar and his other allies. Proceed with caution. Distinct features: Blonde hair, blue eyes, whisker marks on his cheeks, and a black headband with an arrow/swirl design. Reward 100,000 pieces of Fire Nation Golden Phoenix pieces."

"Why does he care about that dead last ninja?" asked Sai tactlessly.

"I care because he's my son," Minato replied coolly, his reply shocking Guy, Lee, Ten-Ten, Hana, Anko, Temari, and Neiji. Sai might have been shocked but no emotions were on his face. Tsunade, Kakashi , and Jiraiya were already in the know.

"Who's the Avatar and why would Naruto be wanted by the Fire Nation for helping him?" asked Temari.

"That's a long story better saved for a more secure location. I take it you're tracking them too?" Minato said.

"That's our mission: We're here to retrieve Gaara of the Desert from Suna, Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha from this world and bring them back to ours. We're currently on the trail of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata," said Neiji.

**Desert (present)**,

They arrived at the village a half after they set out.

"How dare you!" said the village leader. The man's dark gray eyes flashing with anger.

"Your clansmen tried to steal something that did not belong to them," Gaara said as he deposited the sandbenders on the ground. Their smell was quite pungent because they had soiled themselves.

"They're lying father!" said the one.

"Really? Then it was just my imagination that I was startled out of meditation by you trying to steal Appa?" Gaara said acerbically.

"Gaara doesn't like being called a liar," said Toph from his side she stomped the ground and made the sand turn into sand stone, "Ah, much better, I can see! I dare you to say that again."

"What have you done!" The father said turning to his son and his foolish friends.

"We just wanted to get some money," said the pitiful boy.

"I am sorry for this disgraceful behavior. I thank you for sparing his life," the leader said.

"Next time, he may not be so lucky," Aang said harshly.

**Misty Palms Oasis**,

Zuko and Iroh were at the run down oasis because Iroh was there to meet with someone. Unfortunately for them Shin Fu and Master Yu were there tracking Toph. They grew frustrated that they couldn't find her so when they noticed the exiled Fire Nation Royals they decided to capitalize on that. Long story short, the member of the White Lotus society that was there to help them made the pair look like fools when Iroh and Zuko were smuggled out in flower pots under their very noses making the greedy duo return to their original mission of retrieving Toph Bei Fong.

**With the Konoha Retrieval Team**,

"And that's the whole reason behind the madness," Minato said as he finished explaining things.

"So what element do you control?" asked Kakashi.

"Air, like my affinity," Minato said shrugging, "Not that I can use it."

"Gentle Fist seems to have translated into Airbending," Neiji said after being nudged by Guy.

"Interesting," said Minato after a moment, "My last information of Naruto and the Avatar had them hopping around the continent irregularly and their latest additions to their group include an Earthbending prodigy known in the Earth Rumble Circuit as the Blind Bandit and a redheaded sandbender with a strange tattoo on his head wearing a gourd on his back," said Minato, "You know him better as Gaara of the Desert."

"So they're all together?" Tsunade said.

"How oddly convenient," said Anko.

"Is there a body count for him?" asked Temari afraid of the answer she might get.

"You must be Gaara's sister. Temari, was it?" Minato said once he noticed the quatra-ponytailed ninja, "Not since I fixed his seal. That seal before was some of the sloppiest sealing I've ever seen that actually functioned partially."

"That was my father's work," Temari said with no emotional inflection.

"I know. And since I _can_ return, I'm going to be marching over to Suna and smacking him over the head for that," Minato said.

"You're too late: Orouchmaru killed him and tricked Suna into invading Konoha," said Kakashi.

"That bastard did? I'm not surprised. After all, you see his handiwork here," Minato said gesturing to the corpses on the ground.

"Will you join us then?" asked Kakashi.

"Might as well," Minato said, "I stand a better chance of finding them this way."

**Desert**,

The very, very contrite Sandebenders of that particular tribe offered to resupply the gang and offered them hospitality for the night. The group declined deciding to leave as soon as they possibly could, though they took the supplies.

"So did you finally realize it?" Gaara Naruto as he rode in the balloon.

"Realize what?" the blonde asked.

"Who Minato is," Gaara said.

"You knew?" Naruto said surprised.

"Your resemblance to one another is very strong," said Gaara.

"Really?" Naruto asked blinking at him in shock.

"You mean you've never seen a picture of him?" asked Gaara in disbelief.

"No, no one even bothered to tell me anything about my parents," Naruto remarked with some bitterness in his tone.

"How did you know then?" asked Gaara.

"My mom's the one who actually sealed the Fox because she took over for my dad who got sucked up and dumped here. She put some of her chakra in it so she could meet me someday. Oh and she was like us: She was Fuzzy's previous host," Naruto said. Gaara looked at Naruto with an actual expression of surprise on his face.

"And she still did it?" asked Gaara confused.

"Well my dad had already started the seal before he got sucked up so she finished it," Naruto said.

"I wish my own had been like that," Gaara said.

"If your family was too messed up to love you then we'll be your family," Naruto said flashing a cheesy grin at Gaara.

"So can we join this conversation?" asked Sakura.

"Oh dang," Naruto said.

"So your father's here and apparently looks a great deal like you and knows enough about seals to fix Gaara's," said Sasuke.

"That's about right," Naruto said.

"Anything else we need to know about your father?" asked Sakura as she cracked her knuckles.

"Well, he mightbetheFourthHokage," Naruto said.

"Wow, and the village treated you like THAT?" Sakura said.

"They might not have known," Naruto said.

"You're, apparently, the spitting image of your father, sure, no way to possibly connect you to him," Sakura deadpanned.

"Why would people keep that from you? And why would no one notice? Aside from you and a couple of the Yamanka's, there don't appear to be any other blonde people in our village," Hinata said puzzled.

"They see what they want to see," Sasuke said, "If they want to miss the resemblance between a hero and a so called "demon" then they will."

"That sounds about right," said Naruto said resignedly.

"Are you five done with your touchy feely stuff?" asked Toph's voice making the group turn to see Appa flying near enough for the four in the saddle to hear them.

"We'd understand if you guys left so that you could find Naruto's father," said Aang after a few moments.

"We promised to stay with you guys until you beat the Fire Lord so we're going to, believe it!" Naruto said giving the Avatar a thumbs up and a grin.

**Fire Nation Vessel en route to Earth Kingdom**,

"BLAGH!" Kisame was emptying his guts over the railing much to Itachi's annoyance. The Uchiha would have found it amusing that the shark man was the one to get sea sick had the first bout not soiled his Akatsuki robes. Now he was standing in borrowed fire nation clothing that actually suited him very well (his normal clothing had been victims of round two).

'So much for the toughness of the 'Tailess Tailed Beast,'' Itachi snorted as the blue man looked rather teal and wobbly after he finished his latest bout of expelling everything in his stomach, 'If he pukes on me again, so help me Kami, I'm Tsukiyomi-ng him into next year.'

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><p><strong>I'm sorry if Itachi seems a little OOC there at the end, but I would have the same reaction if someone puked on me twice and I had the ability to do so.<br>**

**MP**:Enjoy!

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Frieza in his Final Form from Dragon Ball Z (I don't own Dragon Ball Z Akira Toriyama and Funimation do)  
><strong>

_Ozai wasn't sure exactly what he was looking at. It was humanoid but also sort of like a lizard. It had purple sections on its head, shoulders, in the middle of its chest, and on its shins. This strange creature also had a lashing white tail. The Fire Lord had never seen its like before in his life._

_"Ok, weakling, where are my dragon balls?" asked the creature with a raspy voice._

_"A dragon's whats?" asked Ozai._

_"Don't play dumb with me, monkey!" the lizard thing roared._

_"There are no dragons left on this world!" said Ozai, "My brother killed the last one."_

_"Then that's too bad for you!" the stranger said before he held a hand out in front of Ozai and a ball of ki appeared. Ozai, and much of his palace, was vaporized._

_"Lord Frieza," said a minion on Frieza's scouter._

_"Yes?" he said._

_"That's not planet Namek," said the minion, "I'm afraid that Appule gave you the wrong coordinates."_

_"You mean we came here for nothing!" Frieza yelled._

_"Not quite, sir, you are not too far from Namek, it's the next solar system over," said the technician. Frieza rose into the air and took off destroying random cities on the planet as he left to make himself feel better._

Until Next Time!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

Me? I own a Toshiba laptop and perhaps the way I sent the Naruto characters to the A:tLA world

**MP**: As you can plainly see, I've managed to get chapter 14 written in time. I did manage to sort of stay with the plot but with my deviations mixed in.

Review responses:

**xXanimeluver15Xx**: Not a problem. The ninjas in the Avatar world by place of origin (or organization of alliegence):

Akatsuki: Itachi and Kisame  
>Konoha: Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Minato, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Anko, Guy, Lee, Neiji, Tenten, Sai, and Tsunade.<br>Suna: Gaara and Temari  
>Oto: Orouchimaru, Sound Four (All of the Sound Four are dead as of chapter 10 of this story)<p>

**hot dog**: sorry if I sound stupid but what are "SCPs" or all those numbers? As for Zombie plauge, I could do that. Oh and I love your avatar: I've got a second cousin who's either an E-7 or an E-9 in the Marines.

**j kand**: Here's 14, enjoy :D

**KatonKageX**: Sakura sense beating is a slow process. And Sasuke's emoness is starting to get on someone who actually has a sob story's nerves. It's not Naruto. Also, I figure that the Uchiha Massacre is common knowledge for those who care to pay attention. Lee learning Chi blocking? He and Guy would have to see Tye Lee for that to work or they finally convince Neiji to help them. However, Lee (without wieghts) is faster than even Aang on his scooter. For once, the others have to adapt to restrictions on their ninja arts while Lee's been handicapped the whole time.

Clarify: Who are the magnet ninja or the bee ninjas? If they're not manga, I don't know them and if they are, I don't remember them.

The requests: wow lots of FMA characters and Bleach characters. I'll be able to have plenty of characters to use for the rest of this story and all through the next one. As for Index, Code Geass, or Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Never seen, or read any of them and I've only ever heard of Code Geass when it comes to the three.

**Paper Planes**: More ass kicking for Hinata? Ok. I sort of manage that a bit in this chapter. As for the Sandbenders: I agree 100%. Your requests overlap with others' in the fact the FMA has the most votes followed by Bleach. Light from Death Note, (never read it) but I know of him to the point where I could do that. Unfortunately, my knowledge of One Piece is soley anime and I stopped watching some time after they got into Nami's backstory but **WAY** before they went into the sky.

**Raising Solstice**: Thanks for the compliment, though this might be a step back. Hopefully what I've done with it you like. And the Kisame thing, that's because I love irony ^_^

**XD**: Roy Mustang, that would be very amusing to see. I don't know why I didn't think of him before. Truth be told, I've only seen the original anime and not Brotherhood (which I hear is more faithful to the manga events).

_General_-Wow, the requests are great! Keep them coming, but don't be surprised if they don't feature in a chapter; there are only so many chapters in the story. Plus I've already admitted I won't always know of whom you're requesting or anything of their source materials. Also, Roy Mustang (by most votes so far) will definietly be responsible for one of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_. That and I actually know him from a version of his source material (granted it's the 26 episode anime that most manga fans hate but it's all I know).

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><p><em>"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri <em>

**Chapter 14 Serpent's Pass**

"Why won't these guys quit!" Naruto yelled. The gang was surrounded by emaciated Fire Nation troops that acted and moved like ninja! Luckily, for the group, their jutsu were relatively basic and weak, though it was giving those who unfamiliar with fighting ninjas trouble. Meaning Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph.

"Do what we do!" Sakura yelled as she used a substitution.

"We can't! We don't know ninja magic!" Sokka yelled as he threw his boomerang. It missed the Fire Nation Sound Ninja, who laughed only to come back and nail them in the back of his head.

"Well, **_you_** would if you hadn't refused training!" Sakura yelled back as she managed to take out a ninja with one of her chakra enhanced punches. It worked a bit too well because the enemy who received the punch didn't get back up.

"Everyone! They've got weird black chakra in their systems just like that girl Tayuya!" Hinata yelled as she weaved together using Gentle Fist and waterbending which proved to be a good combination whenever it struck her enemies.

"Why aren't you obliterating us, Flash?" one of the Fire-Sound Ninjas sneered at Naruto as he, and his clones, fought against the enemy.

"I'm not the Flash," Naruto said.

"I'm his son!" a clone finished as it used air to increase the force his kunai were thrown with. Naruto had been aiming to disable his enemy. Unfortunately for the enemy combatant, the blonde aimed too high.

Naruto froze: He'd just consciously killed a man!

'**MOVE WHELP**!' Nine-Tails roared before he seized control of Naruto's limbs to get him out of the path of a black jet of curse-seal-chakra infused fire.

'I'm not better than them, no better than you,' Naruto weakly said as he went on the defensive.

'**DAMN IT ALL KIT, IT WAS YOU OR THEM AND I'M GLAD YOU CHOSE YOU! YOU'RE A SHINOBI, NOW ACT LIKE IT**!' The Fox said. Naruto managed to regain his focus but made sure his aim was truer as the battle wound down. Soon all the enemy troops were unconscious or dead. Sasuke had no qualms about killing, Sakura was also in a similar state as Naruto having killed a few enemies. Hinata managed to keep the blood off of her hands in this battle. Gaara was Gaara, he had already killed and was able to move past it.

"Are you guys alright?" Sokka asked Sakura and Naruto.

"These were their first kills," said Hinata.

"Kills?" Sokka asked and he saw the enemy dead and blanched.

"You're a warrior and you blanch at death?" asked Gaara.

"I know it's part of being a warrior I just never had to see it up close before," Sokka said with a shrug. Gaara walked over to Sakura and Naruto.

"You aren't monsters. You are ninjas. You did exactly as you were trained," said Gaara.

"But Sasuke isn't reacting at all," Sakura said hollowly.

"Who cares what Emo Princess is and isn't doing!" Toph yelled, "Gaara's trying to make sure you're ok, Fan Girl!"

"We'll be fine after a while," said Naruto standing, "It's just not the easiest thing in the world."

"It never should be," said Gaara with wisdom far beyond his years gained from his childhood being strangled before it could begin.

'**I'm worried about the lack of response from Emo Boy**,' Nine-Tails said to Naruto later.

'Yeah, I'm bugged by it too,' Naruto replied as they made camp. Of course, it was only after they made camp that they realized the enemy shinobi had totaled their balloon!

"The only settlement that has anything we'd need would be Ba Sing Se," said Sokka.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto asked his teammate as he and the ninjas assessed the damage to the balloon.

"Why wouldn't I be? And why should you care?" Sasuke asked.

"You're just kind of too calm and I'm kind of creeped out about this man you want to kill," Naruto said.

"Such an obsession is unhealthy," Gaara put in from next to Naruto as he gathered things up. They noticed Gaara using a piece of paper that had been a wanted poster as he placed sections of cloth on it and grabbed a few handfuls of the berries that were part of Aang's provisions to make ink. Naruto watched what Gaara was doing and a few hand-signs later the stuff on the paper vanished.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that!" said Sakura in awe.

"I am not a rookie genin," Gaara stated impassively.

"Can you seal the rest of the balloon into that?" asked Sokka who'd been watching from a distance.

"No," said Gaara, "Not unless it was dissembled and the components were placed on parchment like I did with the portion I just sealed." Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura pulled out the scrolls they'd been using as their mission reports and cut off sections of it and set to work taking the balloon apart. It took most of the night and scrounging for paper but soon the balloon's components were sealed in many scrolls, which Naruto then suggested be sealed up as well. Sasuke stuck the improvised scroll in his pack.

"We are not finished with discussing your unhealthy obsession with seeking to kill someone," Gaara told Sasuke as he and he others got some rest. Sasuke 'Hn'ed in response but couldn't shake the redhead's stare.

Everyone slept until late morning. It was then that Sokka began to pour over his purloined maps while the others enjoyed the water. Aang waterbent and ice cube around himself so he could float while Naruto and Hinata were playing tag on the water's surface.

"WATERBENDING BOMB!" Katara yelled which soaked those lounging on the edge AKA Sokka and his maps along with Sasuke: Gaara dodged it.

"Sure, five thousand year old maps from the spirit library just splash some water on them," Sokka muttered. The others giggled as Katara used waterbending to get the moisture out of the maps. Gaara also sat on the side.

"Why don't you get in, Sandy?" asked Toph who was kicking her feet in the water.

"I can't. Shukaku won't let me," said Gaara.

"Is this because you're covered in sand, Sandy?" asked Toph. Gaara looked at her surprised

"Duh, I feel vibrations in earth and I can feel the sand around you," said Toph, "Be lucky I never bent it into rock, Sandy."

'Shukaku, your defense could get us killed here,' Gaara pointed out.

'**Nonsense! If she'd tried to bend it, she'd have found she couldn't**,' Shukaku replied.

"Here we are and here is the bay and all we have to do is fly over it to get to Ba Sing Se," said Sokka.

"Ok let's do it," said Aang as they gathered stuff up.

"Hello fellow refugees!" asked a man and his pregnant wife with a teenage girl in tow.

"Are you headed to Ba Sing Se?" asked Aang of the trio.

"Why yes," said the man, "We want to get there before my wife Ying has her baby."

"So I take it you're taking the Serpent's Pass?" Sokka said as he studied the map, "It's the only land route I see."

"Oh no, only the desperate take that deadly path," said Ying.

"Nice going," Toph remarked smacking Sokka.

"You're not thinking of taking it, are you?" asked Ying's husband.

"Nah, we have Appa," said Aang patting the bison who 'Grahhed!' happily, "But it sounds like you're not either."

"Heavens no! We're taking the ferry from Full Moon Bay," he said, "Though I suppose you have no need for that."

"But we could check it out," said Katara, "It might even be a good place to fly from."

"Ok," said Aang while Sokka just grumbled about wasting time. Gaara continued to stare down Sasuke, who had been sulking on the shore with Sakura next to him chattering away.

Once they were ready they flew to Full Moon Bay. Earthbenders bent open the entrance and they saw hundreds of refugees were there.

"I never knew that so many people were affected by the war," Katara said.

"A bit naïve of you to think like that," Sasuke said coolly.

"What Bastard was trying to say was that wars affect a lot of people," said Naruto.

"Whatever, Dead Last," said Sasuke in the same cold manner.

"At least I don't try to tick off everyone around me," Naruto responded.

"What did you say to him?" Sakura growled.

"Down, Fan Girl!" Toph said using earth to restrain Sakura, "Keep this up and you'll force me to be mean."

'**You should stop provoking her, moron**,' Nine-Tails said.

'Yes, but where would the fun in that be?' Naruto responded.

'**You're way too much like Kushina for your own good**,' Nine-Tails grumbled.

'And yet she managed to finish sealing you into me,' Naruto responded cheekily.

"I told you already no vegetables on the Ferry! Do you know what a single cabbage slug could do to the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se? Security!" a sour faced old woman said as a platypusbear in a uniform destroyed a cart of cabbages making the Cabbage Merchant yell, "MY CABBAGES!"

"Hey you! Tickets and passports!" a girl in a guard uniform said as she marched towards Sokka.

"Is there a problem?" Sokka asked completely clueless as to why the beautiful guard girl with violet-blue eyes and reddish hair was talking to him.

"I've got a problem with you. I've seen your type before you're probably sarcastic and think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar," she said.

"Do I know you?" Sokka asked.

"You mean you don't remember. Maybe you'll remember this," said the girl after she grabbed Sokka by the shirt before she then kissed him on the cheek.

"Did I just see that happen?" asked Naruto.

"I did as well," said Sasuke. Hinata giggled a little while Sakura just stared at the display with wide eyes.

"Suki!" Sokka said happily.

Later in a waiting area,

"You look so different without your makeup," Katara said, "And the new outfit."

"That crabby lady makes us all wear them," said Suki.

"So are the other Kyoshi Warrior's here?" asked Sokka.

"Yeah. After you came to our island we wanted to make a difference so we left and ended up escorting a few refugees and we've been here ever since," Suki explained, "So why are you here? You have Appa to fly across on."

"We wanted to check it out," said Naruto.

"And who are you?" Suki asked as she finally noticed the extras.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha," Naruto said.

"They're Shadow Warriors," Sokka explained.

"Interesting," Suki said politely.

"I'm Toph Bei Fong," said Toph waving a hand.

"A pleasure and you?" she asked Hinata who bowed her head to Suki

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga of Konoha," said Hinata after which she raised her head.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura said brightly. Sasuke refused to talk.

"That's Sasuke, he's the brooding one," said Naruto. Before Sakura could move to hit Naruto, Toph and Hinata put a stop to it.

"I am Gaara of the Desert," said Gaara politely.

While this was going on Iroh and Zuko were on a ferry that had already left.

"To think I'd be returning to the scene of my biggest military disgrace as a tourist!" Iroh said.

"Look around Uncle, we're not tourists, we're refugees," said the rain on the parade AKA Zuko. He took a sip of the rationed food he'd been given and gagged,

"I'm sick of eating rotten food and sleeping in the dirt," said Zuko angrily.

"So are we," said a voice. Zuko turned to see a boy with bushy hair wearing a red and blue tunic and a piece of armor on his shoulder accompanied by two others. One was possibly a boy possibly a girl wearing armor with a head band and two painted stripes on each side of their face the other was taller wearing a normal tunic with a red scarf around his neck that was more on the right side of his shoulders than his left wearing a hat similar to Zuko's. Also on his shoulders was a quiver full of arrows.

"I'm Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters Smellerbee and Long Shot," Jet said.

"Hey," Smellerbee said in a voice that made gender harder to guess, though it was a safe bet to choose boy.

"Hello," Zuko said from his position along the railing.

"Here's the deal. I hear the Captain is eating like a king while us refugees are feeding off his scraps.

"What sort of King is he eating like?" Iroh asked.

"The fat happy kind," said Jet. Iroh's face drooped and he drooled a little.

"You want to help us _liberate_ some food?" Jet asked Zuko. He looked at his slop before tossing it into the waters.

"I'm in," he said.

Full Moon Bay

"Avatar Aang, you have to help us! Someone stole all our belongings, our tickets, and our passports," Ying yelled to Aang.

"I'll go talk to the lady for you," Aang said.

"I've got a feeling this isn't going to end well," Naruto said to Sasuke.

"What gave that away," Sasuke mumbled.

"Enough, you've been churlish this whole time," said Gaara, "We will talk about your problems once we're safely in Ba Sing Se."

"I don't have any problems," Sasuke said.

"I know of the pain you have better than you'd know," Gaara said blandly, "Of all us with sob stories yours is the least on the scale."

"You didn't have your whole family slaughtered and then your brother torment you with your parent's deaths using a genjutsu!" Sasuke exploded.

"No, I did not. I only had to kill the one person who ever loved me and found out he didn't love me after all when I was six years old. But how could that ever compare to your trauma," Gaara said.

"Wow, Gaara learned sarcasm at last," said Toph.

"Furthermore, Naruto's life is worse than yours ever was but you don't see him acting like you," Gaara added, "Instead he was neglected by the village his parents saved and put on his happy idiot mask to hide his pain."

"Whoa," Naruto said, "And I never really told him about that part."

"Aang has lost his whole people and you whine about one clan?" Gaara said.

"Fine, I get it," Sasuke.

"But that's just it, you don't," Naruto said joining in, "Gaara's making the point that you never tried to get stronger, you just internalized your hatred. For crying out loud, it's your brother!"

"Who also happens to be an S-Class missing ninja. Even Naruto and I would have to think twice about engaging your brother in battle even if we were using the powers of our demons," Gaara said.

"He's that powerful? What the hell, Emo! You don't stand a chance alone!" Naruto said.

"I can and I do. I'm an Uchiha! The Last One! I have to avenge my Clan," said Sasuke.

"That's bull shit and you know it," said Naruto, "I'm the Fourth Hokage's son and one of the last Uzumaki's yet you don't see me swearing vengeance on Iwa for that?"

"Your father did a pretty good job of that," Gaara pointed out.

"He and my mom were probably not even together then," said Naruto, "That's also not the point. So you kill your brother. Then what?" Sasuke didn't answer.

"Vengeance is a path easy to start on but hard to leave," said Gaara, "And you end up with more than just your intended target's blood on your hands. Are you certain you want to follow in his footsteps like that?" Sasuke had no retort.

"Did Aang get the tickets for Ying and them?" Naruto asked Hinata while Sasuke brooded in silence.

"No. She even stamped Aang right on his arrow," Hinata said, "Toph tried to help with her passport and even that wouldn't work despite the fact Toph was a Bei Fong."

"Maybe we could give them a ride on Appa," said Aang.

"Maybe not," said Katara, "We don't know if Appa can carry all of us across."

"Then we do like we did before with those two villages and the Great Divide. We need volunteers to go through the Serpent's Pass," Aang said.

"I'll do it," Naruto said.

"I go with Naruto," said Hinata.

"If he can do it, so can I," said Sasuke.

"I'm staying with Sasuke," Sakura said. Sasuke tried not to groan a loud.

"I'm going with them," Gaara said.

"I'm staying on Appa," Toph said.

"That should be enough weight off of Appa," said Aang as he looked at the five Ninjas.

"Ok, see you on the otherside!" said Naruto before he raced off.

"We don't even know where it is in relation to Full Moon Bay!" Sakura yelled after him.

"It's to the west," said Sokka called after the running ninjas.

"Can they make it?" asked Ying.

"They're Shadow Warriors, they'll be fine," Sokka said.

Entrance to the Serpent's Pass,

"That doesn't look like a snake," said Naruto.

"No, but it's our path regardless," Sasuke said.

"Look at this, 'Abandon Hope,'" Hinata said reading the writing scratched into the posts.

"Someone's read the Divine Comedy too many times," Sakura said.

"Sakura, you do realize that this world doesn't actually have that book in existence, right?" Naruto said.

"Oh," said Sakura as they made to start on the path.

"Wait up!" a voice said. They ninjas turned to see Suki catch up to them in full Kyoshi regalia.

"You look better in that than Aang did," Naruto blurted out.

"Thanks, I guess," Suki said, "Where's Sokka?"

"On Appa," said Sasuke, "He was too chicken to take the pass."

"I was not!" Sokka's voice said. Appa stopped nearby with Sokka hopping down off of the bison.

"Why aren't you riding with the others, Sokka?" asked Sakura.

"I decided I wanted to see if it really was as dangerous as they say it is," Sokka said.

"Don't slow us down," Sasuke said before they finally went onto the pass.

"Hey! Fly on the other side! The Firenation controls this side!" Suki yelled to those on Appa, who were flying level with those who were walking the pass.

"Ok, but yell if you need anything: We're going slow to keep Ying from getting airsick," Aang yelled back. With that they went on the other side of the formation.

"What's going on over there?" asked Gaara as he looked over at the Firenation half.

"They're working on some project that they don't want anyone to find out about," Suki said.

"I bet we could," said Naruto as he looked over at Gaara. Gaara made a sand eye which flew away. Naruto made a clone and had it henge into a bird so it could fly after Gaara's sand eye.

"Wow, and they won't see that coming?" asked Suki.

"Probably not," said Gaara, "But there's a chance there are members among their forces that might."

"Those guys? They're academy level at best," said Sasuke.

"Yeah, but there were lots of them," Naruto said.

"Let's keep mov-ING!" Sakura said as the section she was walking on crumbled. Gaara used a hand of sand to catch her and place her back on the edge. That's when the Fire Nation boat spotted them. Naruto, imitating something he'd seen Aang do many a time jumped out and used airbending to bat the fireball right back at the boat. Another hit causing rocks to slide. Sokka shoved Suki out of the way only to be in the path of the rocks himself. Luckily for him, Gaara bent a slab of rock out to deflect the rocks.

"You need to be more careful!" Sokka scolded Suki.

"Isn't that the Pot calling the Kettle Black?" Sakura asked Hinata.

"I think so," said Hinata as they kept walking. Sokka's over protectiveness of Suki rose as the night progressed. They broke for camp on a larger section of the land while Appa landed on the largest section for a bit of rest himself.

"What's with him?" asked Sakura.

"He lost someone dear to him at the Siege of the North," Hinata replied.

"Oh," said Sakura as she watched Sokka find a place to watch the moon, "Who was she?"

"Princess Yue. She's now the Moon Spirit," said Hinata.

"Hey!" Naruto said breaking the serenity of the night.

"Hi, Naruto. I was just telling Sakura about Yue," said Hinata. Naruto's cheery façade slipped, "Oh, that was a bad night."

"I heard she's the moon spirit, how did that happen?" asked Sakura.

"Some monkey face guy attacked the physical form of the moon to try to destroy the waterbenders. According to Sokka Yue gave up her life to restore the moon. I lost control of the Fox and we rampaged that night," Naruto said.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"The Moon Spirit was Fuzzball's ally in our world," Naruto said, "So his anger was too great to hold back and this world's been messing with my seal."

"Still, imagine how hard it was for Sokka," said Sakura.

"He stares at the moon when he thinks no one is looking," Hinata said.

Suki found Sokka doing just that: Staring at the moon and sitting on a rock formation that looked sort of like a stirrup.

"It's a beautiful moon," Suki said.

"Yeah it really is," Sokka said glumly.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help but I can take care of myself," Suki said as she sat next to him.

"I know you can," Sokka said.

"Then why are you acting so over protective?" Suki asked.

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again," Sokka said.

"I lost someone I care about. He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart, and brave, and funny-," Suki began.

"Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?" Sokka demanded standing up.

"No, he's about your height," Suki said.

"Is he better looking?" Sokka.

"It _is_ you stupid!" Suki said as she also stood. Her hint dropping had been missed by the oblivious Water Tribesman.

"Oh," Sokka said self-consciously. The scene was just right for a romantic kiss and one almost happened but Sokka pulled away.

"I can't," he said.

"I'm sorry," Suki said as he turned away. Sokka said,

"You shouldn't be."

Ferry,

A guard with a lantern passed overhead this seemed to be the cue for the raid on the stores. Jet used his hook swords to help them get in while Zuko had his dual dao's out. Jet slice down and caught chickens while Zuko used his blades to stack up rice dishes which he tied together after sheathing his blades.

"The Guard's coming!" Smeller Bee said as their look out. Long Shot fired an arrow with a rope tied to it so they could escape with their delicious loot. The arrow popped out after that and the guard was none the wiser about what had just occurred on the ship.

Later, after they'd distributed the food they sat around eating. Jet, Smellerbee, and Long Shot ate with Zuko and Iroh.

"Smellerbee, that's an unsual name for a young man," said Iroh.

"Maybe because of the fact that I'm not a young man. I'm a girl!" she said before _**she**_ stormed off.

"Now I see it's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!" Iroh called after her.

"From what I've heard, people like this every night in Ba Sing Se, I can't wait to set my eyes on the giant wall," Jet said.

"It is a magnificent sight," said Iroh.

"So you've been there before?" Jet asked.

"Once, when I was a, different man," Iroh said regretfully.

"I've done a lot of things in my past I'm not proud of. That's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se. For a new beginning, a second chance," Jet said.

"That's very noble of you. I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances," Iroh said as he looked over at his nephew who also happened to look over at Iroh.

The Serpent's Pass,

The Ninjas set out at dawn with a grumbly Sokka in tow while those who were flying on Appa would have a later start. Midmorning and they reached a section of the pass that was underwater. So the ninjas began to walk right out onto the water, including Gaara. Shukaku had permitted him to learn this to keep them out of the water. Hinata made an ice path behind them for Sokka and Suki to walk on. Then, all hell broke loose as a shadow came from under the water. A green and light red sea serpent rose out of the water with an unearthly screech.

"I think I know why it was called the Serpent's Pass now!" Sokka said in fear.

"Move!" Sasuke said as Hinata made a longer path to the other side.

"We'll distract it. Shadow Clones!" Naruto said. Those on Appa tried to get close but the bison rebelled at getting anywhere near the sea monster.

Naruto and Hinata started on the distraction detail using air and water to keep it back with Sasuke joining in and flinging fire at it.

"Katara, keep Appa flying, I'm going to help them," Aang said opening his glider.

"Not without me you're not!" Katara yelled as she leapt off of Appa forcing Aang to catch her and take her with him. Between the Avatar, two very powerful waterbenders, along with Naruto and his legion of clones, the serpent was run off.

"I think there's a short enough distance left that Appa can carry us all," Aang said. He got no arguments from those who had walked the pass.

"I can see the wall! It's nothing but smooth sailing from here," said Sokka. That was when Ying felt her water break.

"Oh, my baby's coming!" she exclaimed.

"Now! Can't you just hold it in or something!" Sokka said freaking out.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, we need to land NOW!" Katara said. Once they were on terra firma Katara helped Ying out of the saddle.

"And why are you giving orders?" asked Sokka.

"I helped Gran-Gran deliver plenty of babies," Katara said.

"This isn't like delivering sealion cubs this is a living human thing," Sokka said as he continued to spaz.

"It's called a baby and I've helped Gran-Gran deliver plenty of those too. Aang, get some rags, Naruto help him, Sokka get some water, Sasuke start a fire to warm the water, Toph I need an Earth tent, a big one. Suki, Sakura, come with me," Katara said and everyone snapped to, except Gaara who decided to help Aang and Naruto.

Ferry,

Zuko was standing in the bow of the boat whenever Jet found him.

"You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew who you were," Jet began which had Zuko instantly on guard so he didn't expect the rest of the speech, "An outcast like me. We outcasts have to look out for one another because no one else will."

"I've realized lately that being on your own isn't always the best path," Zuko said.

Back with Team Avatar,

Ying had been in labor for several hours. At one point, when Katara called for the water from Sokka he entered and fainted. So when Ying finally delivered Toph said to Sokka,

"So are you going to go see the baby or are you going to faint like an old woman again?"

"I'm good this time," Sokka said. Sasuke was outside brooding.

"Hey, come see this!" Naruto said dragging the Last Uchiha into the tent. In it he saw a family as it should be. A loving set of parents and a child.

"Painful isn't it?" asked Gaara.

"Yes," Sasuke admitted.

"Yet, living the way I used to and they you currently do, will deny you this for yourself someday," said Gaara.

"When did you get so wise, Sandy?" asked Toph.

"I met a very wise hermit," said Gaara.

"This is also the most I've ever heard you talk," Toph said as Sasuke joined Naruto near the baby. The blonde was making faces at her trying to make her laugh.

"He must have really gotten under your skin," Toph said.

"In a way, I just saw how I used to be in his future," Gaara said, "No one deserves that."

Naruto suddenly gasped at the same time as Gaara.

"We need to get to Ba Sing Se, now," Naruto said urgently.

"What did you two find out?" asked Suki.

"No time, we need to fly," Naruto said.

"I'm going with you," said Aang.

"We'll meet you there," said Katara. The three took off as fast as they could.

"Why are you two freaking out?" asked Aang.

"Look!" Naruto exclaimed pointing towards something. Aang saw it and gasped: rolling through the desert like a giant black centipede was a humongous drill with the outtermost wall of Ba Sing Se as its target.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:Enjoy!

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Raiden (from Mortal Kombat)  
><strong>

_Ozai stared at the man wearing the round hat of an Earth Kingdom Peasant, a white gi, white pants, sandals and a gray-blue vest. The rest of hte man's face was covered in shadows, though his eyes seemed to crackle with electricity._

_"How dare you intrude upon my privacy!" Ozai yelled as he threw lightning at the man. The man let it hit him and he laughed._

_"You tried to throw lightning at me?" he said with a deep, noble sounding voice, "Let me show you how it's done." Electricity crackled all over the mans form before he flew forwards saying something that sounded like "Mommy wanta Cow." Only one hit from that attack was all it took to take down Ozai. With that the Thunder God vanished in a bolt of lightning._

_Did you know_: The move I had Raiden use is sometimes called the Torpedo Move but in one of the games is is named the "Flying Thunder God"

Until Next Time!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	15. Chapter X

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

**-In the confines of a strange place a party is going on. Among the partygoers are characters from many fandoms such as Harry Potter, Goku, Yugi, Sora, Hinata, and Hotaru Tomoe to name a few. Why are they celebrating?-**

**Naruto:**Because MP's not here!( the blonde jumps around happily)

**Sakura**:Wait guys, I found a note (Sakura winces as everything halts. A bottle is heard being smashed making everyone turn to see Hinata holding the bottle neck of said broken bottle and she looked like she was going to use it until Naruto gentle removed it from her hands)

** Goku**: What does it say?

**Sakura (reading the note)**: _Dear characters, _

_Because of the fact I am moving back to college and the fact I cannot focus long enough to get fifteen written, Bolt Out of the Blue will instead be updated with a side story I'd been saving for either a rainy day/ a day like this or as something at the end of this story._

_Have fun while it lasts,_

_-MP_

_PS: Naruto, if I even find ONE of my books boobytrapped with a prank I swear, in spite of how nauseaous it'll make me, I will write a scene where you kiss Sasuke and it won't be accidentally either!_ (The blonde 'EEPs! before taking giant steps away from her books)

**MP: **As you could tell, I'm going back to college next week and moving back up tomorrow so no chapter 15 folks but enjoy this side story!

With any luck, Chapter 15 will be up next week. These last sentences added in an attempt to disspell confusion: This story is NOT done yet. I wrote this side story in an attempt to get back into the mood of writing back when I was first writing Book 2 (These last three sentences added 8/25/11).**  
><strong>

Review responses:

**georgster101**: Well I took a little bit from your suggestion at the very end of mine but sadly, in this episode of the 'Many Deaths of Ozai,' Mustang will only be killing Ozai.

**KatonKageX**: I am planning on Orouchimaru's Fire Nation Sound Ninjas to be there. Now, if I could only focus long enough to write it... As for Sasuke, well it was a long time coming, especially considerng Gaara's childhood was 100 times worse.

**KiarraBakuraArcane**: Why thank you. ^_^

**niqueestella**: Madara I think I'll save for Book 3 as for Hidan, I think he'll show up towards the end of this book as one of Ozai's many murderers.

**nuk1014**: Thanks for the heads up. I've added some line breaks in this one to help.

_General_- As one might surmise, this is the chapter where Roy Mustang shows up in the "Many Deaths of Ozai." Please keep your suggestions coming. ^_^

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter X, Side Story: Arriving Home<strong>

_"And now time for something completely different,"_ _-various Monty Python actors._**  
><strong>

NOTE: This is not the actual ending; this is only the possibility of an ending. AU of my own story as of chapter 8.

A wrenching sound was heard and six yells sounded before there were five thuds of feet hitting the ground or desks. It had been three years since any of them had been in this room. From the screams of surprise, they had landed in the middle of a class. One of the five, a curvy, beautiful young woman with long blue-black hair and pale pearl/lavender eyes looked around the room, not surprised to see a similar looking girl in the classroom. She was wearing a blue Chinese styled dress with black tights/undershirt and boots. Around her neck, on a blue silk ribbon, was a Konoaha forehead protector.

Next to her, standing on a desk, was a young man wearing a red tunic, black pants, and black boots, his longish black hair held back by his forehead protector, on new black cloth. His dark, intense eyes scanned the room, a sword on his hip. In the front of the room stood a slim young woman, her pink hair kept short, held back by her forehead protector as well, also using a ribbon as the first girl, only hers was green like her eyes. She wore a green kimono, a headdress hanging off her belt along with a pair of bladed fans.

Standing next to her was a redheaded young man whose black ringed, sea green eyes were impassive as he looked at the room wearing a green sleeveless tunic and brown pants tucked into brown boots wearing a familiar looking gourd. In his arms was a slightly younger girl than the other two wearing a green tunic and pants with a tan tabard. Her black hair pulled into a large bun on her head, held in place by a green hair band. The strange thing about this girl was the fact that not only was she barefoot, but her eyes were glazed over: she was blind. The final arrival was also standing on a desk wearing an orange tunic with white sleeves along with black pants and sandals. One his right thigh, as with the others, was a kunai holster, in his left hand was held a staff. He wore his Konoha forehead protector like a sweatband with orange cloth holding it on. But to the startled Iruka, there was no mistaking the blonde mop, the whisker marks, or the blue eyes.

The five now older and taller shinobi looked to one another as they gathered in the front of the room.

"Where were you?" Iruka said at last.

"It's a long story," Naruto said, the pitch of his voice through Iruka through a loop because he sounded just like-,

"Put me down, Sandy," said the girl in the redhead's arms, Gaara of the Desert if Iruka remembered correctly, though he didn't recognize the girl.

"As you wish, Lady," Gaara said setting the girl on her feet.

"Whoa, what is this floor made of?" she asked.

"Linoleum," Sasuke said.

"We'd better get to the Hokage," said Sakura.

"Shall I tell father?" Hanabi asked Hinata.

"Up to you," Hinata said dismissively in a normal tone of voice stunning those who had known Hinata before into silence before the sextet left in a blur.

"What just happened?" Konohamaru said a loud.

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Tsunade was surprised whenever she got the report from an ANBU agent that the missing ninja and an extra had been seen heading to the Hokage Tower. This she verified in the crystal ball. So when the group barged into her office she barely looked up from her paperwork.

"Welcome back," she said.

"Damn," Naruto mumbled.

"Who's your friend?" asked Tsunade looking up and locking eyes with the extra only to find the girl didn't return her gaze and couldn't because she was blind.

"This is Toph Bei Fong," said Sakura.

"I can introduce myself, Fan girl!" Toph said brashly.

"We wrote up our mission reports before we came here," Hinata said hold a bundle of four scrolls out to Tsunade who accepted them.

"Could you have someone deliver this to my father," Gaara said pulling out his own scroll. Tsunade blinked and said,

"I see we're going to need to bring you up to speed on a few things that happened while you were away. First, tell me what happened after the end of the first chunin exam. Uchiha, since you haven't said anything yet, start it off," Tsunade said.

"We were pulled into another world where there weren't ninjas but people with the ability to control only one of four affinities. There affinities were water, earth, fire, and air. The nation whose main element was fire was trying to conquer the rest of the world and they had been at war for a hundred years," Sasuke said, "But there was an exception to the bending rule, the Avatar, who could master all four elements. We decided to help him stop the Fire Nation and save the world. While there, only non-elemental based jutsu were able to be used unless you were a bender of that particular element. The war ended over a year ago in that world but we were unable to find a way back until just now."

"Interesting and I take it Toph is from this other world?" Tsunade said.

"You're looking at the most powerful Earthbender there ever was, Diamond Lady," said Toph. Tsunade's left eye twitched a little at the nickname.

"What are you elements?" asked Tsunade addressing the group.

"I didn't have one," Sakura said with a shrug.

"Earth," Gaara said blandly.

"Fire," Sasuke said.

"Water," Hinata said.

"Air!" Naruto said making the air swirl a little, sending some of the paperwork into the air.

"Thanks for that, Naruto," Tsunade sighed.

"Nice one, Fox Boy," Toph said which had Tsunade look at the group sharply.

"I told them," Naruto said.

"I hope you impressed upon them that this is an S-class secret and they are not to tell anyone on penalty of death," Tsunade said.

"He neglected to tell us that," Sakura said annoyed.

"Tell the whole village for all I care," Naruto said, "In fact I'll tell them."

"I get it," Tsunade said holding up a hand, "Gaara were you aware of plans for your village to invade ours at the time of the Chunin Exams along with Sound?"

"Yes," Gaara said.

"He told us about that," said Naruto.

"It turns out that your father had been dead for months before the invasion was planned, murdered by Orouchimaru, and being impersonated by him. Your sister is now the Kazekage," Tsuande said, "Why is it you guys aren't wondering who I am?"

"We managed to get one of my clones through a portal as a test," Naruto said, "All it found out was you were the new Hokage and some pervert had blackmailed you into it before it dispelled from lack of energy."

"Not a pervert, a SUPER pervert!" a voice yelled. They turned to see a man with a long mane of spiky white hair with red lines on his face wearing a red sleeveless over robe with a green gi-like shirt, green ninja pants, and wooden sandals with a scroll on his back and a thick metal headband with the kanji for 'oil' on it.

"I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner! They're two of the Legendary Three! She's Tsunade Senju, the greatest medic ever and the granddaughter of the first Hokage and he's the Toad Sage, Jiraiya" Sakura said.

"Really?" Naruto said, not at all impressed by Jiraiya, "He's more of a pervy sage."

"Pervy sage! Brat!" Jiraiya said angrily.

"Pervy sage! Pervy Sage!" Naruto said as he acted like he was six and not sixteen, he stuck his tongue out at Jiraiya before he used airbending to escape the white haired man's wrath, flying away on his glider while Jiraiya gave chase on the roof tops.

"And he was doing so well," Hinata sighed.

"Be back here tomorrow to give a formal report for the village council at 10. One of you inform that knucklehead," Tsunade said as she reached for the sake. The others knew they'd been dismissed.

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Hinata arrived at the Hyuuga compound at the same time as an angry Neiji was leaving.

"So the worthless one returns," He said.

"Worth is determined by actions," Hinata replied before she walked past him. Hiashi was in the main sitting room with the other Hyuuga family elders waiting for her. Whatever Hiashi and the elders had been expecting was not what they got. Instead of a meek young woman wearing tatters, in strode a confident young woman wearing strange garb her head held high. In short, the heiress they thought they'd never have.

"Father," Hinata said bowing her head to her father.

"I trust you did not embarrass our name," Hiashi said.

"Where I was, no one had ever heard of the Hyuuga until I arrived," Hinata said, "Since I am regarded as a hero, I doubt I dishonored you. May I take my leave now?" Hiashi dismissed her and she walked to her room to find her sister waiting for her.

"Where were you?" Hanabi asked.

"Far away," Hinata said as she hunted for clothing large enough for her to wear.

"I knew that. Why did people talk like you were probably dead?" Hanabi said.

"Because I was somewhere beyond even the reach of summoning jutsus," Hinata said after she determined everything in her room was too small for her to wear, then she remembered her scroll. She unrolled it and unsealed her pack. In it was spare clothing except for the more modern undergarments. Those she would have to buy and make due with her Water Tribe garb.

Hinata walked out of the bathhouse reveling in the technology she'd been missing while in the other world. She had on her clean set of Water Tribe robes and slipped out of the compound.

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Naruto returned to a destroyed apartment complex with the sign for a realty company advertising new housing in three years.

"Naruto!" Iruka said showing up startling the teen (who had long since out run Jiraiya).

"Hey, Iruka," Naruto said in a false cheery tone.

"I managed to save your stuff, it's in storage under my name so that it wouldn't get 'accidentally' destroyed," Iruka said.

"Thanks," Naruto said, "So was there any money left in Gamma?"

"Should be," said Iruka laughing.

"Well, depending on how much is in there, ramen on me," Naruto said.

"No, I insist. I haven't had you cleaning me out when it came to ramen in three years, my wallet isn't used to be so full," Iruka said waving it off.

"You're the best!" Naruto said hugging Iruka.

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At Irchiraku's,

Teuchi Irchiraku was weeping with joy whenever Naruto walked in the door with Iruka in tow. Naruto was into his fifth bowl whenever he saw someone in blue sit next to him and order a pork ramen.

"Hi Hinata!" Naruto said smiling at her before he returned to his noodles.

"Hello Naruto," Hinata said, "Enjoying your ramen?"

"Oh man I missed it so much!" Naruto moaned causing Hinata to giggle.

"Is there any significance to your clothing?" Iruka asked pointing to the pair.

"Well not mine but Hinata's clothes represent the Water Tribe," said Naruto after he swallowed a mouth full of noodles, "Sakura's clothes represent the Kyoshi Warriors, Gaara and Toph are wearing Earth Kingdom clothes similar to mine but theirs are Earth Kingdom colors while mine represent the Air Nomads and Sasuke wears Fire Nation clothing."

"I've never heard of these places," Iruka said.

"They're in another world," Sakura's voice said startling Iruka as he turned to see Sakura, still in Kyoshi garb, this time wearing the headdress, with Sasuke, Gaara, and Toph all still in the same clothes.

"What's the big deal about this place, Sandy?" asked Toph as she sat down.

"I don't know," Gaara said, "But Naruto likes this place."

"Likes? He LOVES it," Sakura said snorting, "I'll have a shrimp ramen."

"I'll have beef," Sasuke said.

"They'll have miso," Naruto ordered for them, "Trust me, you two will like it." Had Toph been able to see, she and Gaara would have exchanged dubious looks but instead just ignored the blonde while they waited for their food to arrive.

"Blondie's right! This stuff is great!" Toph said, "Another!" Gaara nodded in agreement to Toph's statement and also ordered another.

"So who is this?" Iruka asked pointing to Toph.

"That's Toph, she's from the other world," Sasuke said.

"So what was this other world like?" Iruka said.

"Horrible! They just got finished with their version of a Shinobi War and we fought in it," Sakura said.

"Fan Girl, need I remind you that you joined our war voluntarily," Toph said as she finished her second bowl.

It was around this time that the remaining five of the Rookie Nine entered the ramen stand, having heard that their missing comrades were back. Had Hinata just been the one missing then there would have been an easy fix, but she wasn't so now there was a team of four, after Shikamaru's promotion. When only parts of the team were needed then they mixed in other genin, most notably Sai, a strange boy who was with the other Rookies and walked right up to Naruto and said,

"How large is your penis." Hinata choked on her noodles and Naruto looked at the weird boy and then wrote something down on a piece of paper before handing it to him. Sai took it and it exploded covering the boy in blue paint. Naruto had made a prank explosive note. Hinata just shook her head while the others laughed.

"Sai, that was a joke," explained Ino.

"Ok, Pretty girl," Sai said.

"Sorry about him, he has no concept of social skills," said Ino, "But he's learning."

"Who are they?" Sai asked.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said proudly.

"Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata said smiling.

"You can't be a Hyuuga. You don't have a stick up your ass," Sai commented Naruto laughed at that while Sauske merely smirked and Sakura suppressed a giggle. The other people were just shocked Sai had said that.

"One of the elders got an extra stick so I didn't get one," Hinata explained.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said.

"Sakura Haruno," said Sakura.

"Gaara of the Desert," Gaara said.

"Toph Bei Fong," Toph said without looking at him.

"I'm over here. Are you blind?" Sai asked.

"As a matter of fact I am, Blunder Boy," Toph said crossing her arms and turning in the direction of his voice.

"Was that an insult?" Sai asked genuinely clueless.

"No, with Toph, that's a sign of affection," Sasuke said.

"Got that right, Emo Princess," Toph said.

"How dare you call Sasuke that!" Ino said.

"What do you two read from the same scroll or something?" Toph asked Sakura.

"What's that mean?" asked Ino annoyed.

"Fan Girl here said the same thing you did when I called him that. It made Blondie laugh so hard he nearly fell off of Appa," Toph said pointing in the right directions of whom she referred to, shocking the others.

"What's she call Hinata?" asked Kiba.

"Sister," Toph said simply.

"We have to be at the Hokage's office at 10 tomorrow, Naruto, need a place to stay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"Just stay at the compound, there's plenty of rooms not being used," Sasuke said after he stood up and put some ryu down on the counter, it was more than enough to cover his, Sakura, Gara, and Toph's ramen. Hinata paid for hers and looked at Sasuke,

"Thank you," she said before she bid her good byes and headed back to the Hyuuga compound.

"Gaara, Toph, you can stay as well," Sasuke said before he left.

"Thanks, Emo," said Toph, "Let's get going, Sandy."

"Yes, Lady," Gaara said as he followed Toph and Gaara out.

"I'll get my stuff later," Naruto said as he joined the group.

"Wow, Naruto sure filled out," Ino said appreciatively.

"You do realize Hinata would use 64 Palms on you should you try to go after Naruto, right?" Sakura said.

"A girl can look," Ino said, "Besides, I'm still after Sasuke." Sakura just smiled before she left, walking towards her parents' house in the civilian area.

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For the first time since the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke opened the gates to the Uchiha compound. He had been, up until this point, staying in an apartment across the village to distance himself from the past, but after confronting his past and his choices in the other world, he had learned what was truly important in life. He had also learned to let go. They entered the main building, long since cleaned of the carnage from that night, and Sasuke led them to the family wing where all the bedrooms were. He bypassed the master suite, That M-_Itachi's_ room, his old room and picked a random room and used it for his.

"Pick a room," He said to the others. Naruto just took the room next to Sasuke with Gaara in the one next to Naruto and Toph in the one next to Gaara.

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At 9:50 every member of the Council was waiting for the group to arrive. And arrive they did, nine minutes later, all still wearing their other world clothing. Also in attendance were Temari and Kankuro representing Suna. They saw Gaara actually smiling and nearly ran away in fear on the spot.

"There are two people really scared right now," Toph said.

"I know," Gaara said sadly.

"Don't cry, Sandy, it means you're tough," Toph said punching him in the arm. This made Temari go white with terror until she realized nothing was happening. Gaara was behaving _sanely_. The Konoha Council was divided on the reappearance of Naruto. The Civilian half was disgusted that he was back. The Ninjas were mostly neutral except for the trio-that-just-wouldn't-die AKA Koharu, Homura, and Danzo.

"You are here today to hear the account of these five ninjas experiences in a parallel world. Along with them is an inhabitant of that world who will be allowed to speak after the ninjas have finished telling their stories and we have determined they've told us the truth," Tsunade said as Shizune brought in a large basin of water and set it down. Then Naruto began to tell the council of his arrival, of being found by the Avatar, of his airbending, of finding Sasuke. Sasuke took over until he finished with the siege of the North. Hinata was the next to pick up their story until they lost Appa. Sakura told the story from there until Aang's apparent death. Gaara told the rest of the story up through their efforts to get home.

"Can you demonstrate this bending?" Hiashi asked.

Hinata walked forwards before she slid into a stance that no one present recognized and then began to move. The Ninjas picked up on what was happening right away, though it took the civilians longer to notice the water in the basin was moving. It floated through the air, as if in anti-gravity and coiled around Hinata as she then made it form several shapes before directing it in front of her and most of the water froze into a block which she then used the remaining water to carve into a miniature Hokage Monument, complete with Tsunade's face. Gaara and Toph went next bending stones out of the ground and staging a mock duel until Toph just made a tent of stone. Gaara then made a statue of Toph. Sasuke went next and made a fire dragon dance around before he bent lightning and blasted the fire apart with a relatively weak lightning discharge. It still made everyone's hair stand up. Naruto was last and he made and air sphere which he rode around on before he flipped into the air, opening his glider, and flew around the room. Naruto landed, closing his glider staff with a flourish.

"What about you, Haruno?" asked Inoichi. Sakura made a few motions and nothing happened.

"Sorry, I'm just a plain ninja who learned some good hand-to-hand combat from a group of warriors," said Sakura with a shrug.

"I guess that answers the question of can anyone bend," Tsunade said.

"You have to have the right kind of Chakra," Hinata said as she formed the seals to activate her bloodline, "Byakugan. No one here is able." After that she released the chakra from her eyes and stood proud.

"If you had been able to get home before the end of the other world's war, would you have returned?" asked Danzo grasping for straws.

"No," Naruto said, "We made friends and those friends needed us."

"We all agreed to help them fight the Fire Lord," Sasuke said as he noticed smirks pass between the evil three and the civilians, "So if you are displeased with the answer then you are displeased with all of us."

"And we can always just go back to the other world," said Sakura, "Taking with us a very powerful Hyuuga and the last Uchiha. All because of your bias towards something Naruto had no say in."

"You know?" Koharu said in shock.

"We know and we don't care. We see the person, not a projection of our hurts and hatred from that night," Hinata said frigidly.

"It would have been completely hypocritical of me not to accept Naruto," Gaara said calmly, though there was an edge to his voice.

"So eat that you bigots!" Toph said rudely.

"How dare you!" Danzo yelled.

"Come on guys; let's just go back to my world. At least they respect you guys there," Toph said turning to leave, "And you, what's with the weird body mass?" Hinata heard Toph say that so she activated the Byakugan and gasped.

"He has things in his arm that look like eyes based on the chakra flow," she said in shock. Naruto smirked and bent air at Danzo. Unbekownst to him there were air blades hidden by the gust (a technique Naruto had managed to create)

"Is that it?" he asked just before the bandages fell off revealing his arm full of Sharingan eyes and replaced eye that was also a Sharingan.

"Bastard, how dare you implant my dead clansmen's eyes in your body," Sasuke spat, flames sparking to life in his fists.

"Danzo, you do realize that doing that to yourself has severely shortened your life span?" Tsunade said in an amused voice, "You'll be lucky to survive the year."

"Why's that?" Danzo asked.

"Your chakra system can't sustain whatever you've done to yourself. So you'll die from a chakra system collapse," Tsunade said, "No one can survive that. Well maybe a demon container could, but demon container you aren't."

During this exchange, Sakura was speaking in a low tone, talking Sasuke down from attacking the old mummy, while Naruto was barely keeping himself from flying off the handle. He had help in the form of Hinata placing a hand on his left forearm. Gaara was holding Toph back.

"Danzo you stand accused of crimes against humanity, if you wish to avoid execution, resign your position on the council and agree to have the illegally transplanted organs removed," Tsunade said.

"No. ROOT! COME TO ME!" Danzo said. Two things happened at once. One was Sasuke tossing a kunai at Danzo and the other was a bunch of ninja showing up. Toph and Gaara got to work dealing with them while Danzo was just fine.

"I knew you had them for Inizagi," Sasuke growled.

"What's that?" asked Sakura as she found a couple of ROOT members.

"A forbidden Sharigan technique to be used as a last resort, it can render any attack imaginary but at the cost of the eye," Sasuke said flatly, "So not only does he steal the eyes, he doesn't respect them."

"Well, let's see if he can handle this, SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto said as fifty copies appeared and began fighting alongside the others, bending throwing most ROOT through a loop. Sasuke and Tsunade had forced Danzo to use three eyes so far and Tsuande had removed three with a chakra scalpel. Needless to say, she got over her blood phobia.

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When the dust settled and the civilians came out from hiding, Danzo was dead, ROOT was rounded up, and the Ninjas were now pro Team Naruto. Sasuke gathered up the eyes and sealed them into a scroll.

"I'll be returning these to where they need to be," Sasuke said, "As well as cremating everyone."

"Need help?" asked Naruto.

"No," Sasuke said, "But you can help if you wish."

"We'll all help," Sakura said, Hinata nodded.

"You're all dismissed for now. Be back for a debriefing of what happened here," Tsunade said as she felt a headache forming.

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Years later,

Naruto married Hinata and became the Seventh Hokage (the title of Sixth having gone to Kakashi after the Akatsuki attack) and had three children, two with their father's eyes and one with their mother's. Of course, as fate would have it, their daughter with the Byuakugan was also Naruto's clone, personality wise. Sasuke and Sakura eventually married and had a whole lot of children in an effort to restart the Uchiha clan. Though, there would be a lot of pink haired Uchihas in the future as all their daughters and one son had pink hair (the son constantly begged his parents to let him dye it).

Gaara and Toph left to live in the other world, visiting a few times a year to see their friends on the ninja side and bring them news of their former traveling companions. They had four kids and none of them were blind.

They all lived, more or less, happily ever after.

"Even Sasuke and he's never hap-."

"NARUTO!"

"SORRY SAKURA!"

While this was going on their respective spouses watched.

"There they go again, you think he would learn."

"You married him, Hinata."

"I know. Thank goodness only one of our kids is like that."

"Dad, can I dye my hair, please!"

"No, Haru."

The End.

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><p><strong>MP<strong>:Enjoy!

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist  
><strong>

_"So you are behind everything," Roy Mustang said as he stared down the "man" in front of him, "I wonder who created you?"_

_"What in Agni's name are you talking about?" Ozai asked the raven haired man before him his strange clothing as off putting as he strange manner. With a snap of his fingers, Mustang sent a torrent of flames at the evil Fire Lord. Ozai tried to bend the fire to his will only to find it resisted him! In minutes, Ozai was nothing more than a crisped husk. _

_Upon discovering he had not, in fact, killed a homunculus, Roy Mustang left the Fire Nation with plans to return someday to conquer it._

Until Next Time!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	16. Chapter XI

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

**MP**: OK, to clear up some confusion: This story is not done. It is merely on hiatus. The last chapter I thought would be something fun to read, a possible ending to the story that is absolutely AU to even my story. I apologize for the confusion over that.

responses:

**a red penguin** and** L33Thoro** were already replied to via PM's

**KatonKageX**: Sorry, that was written while I was writing Book 1 so I hadn't actually worked on de-bitching Sakura yet. I intended the ending to be humorous with the respective spouses having given up on breaking apart their fights.

**SeanHicks4**: Thanks for the compliment

So further filler: A short side story

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><p>Quote: <em>"And now for the rest of the story," Paul Harvey<em>

**Chapter XI: Yellow Flash, A Side Story  
><strong>

_- 13 years previous to chapter 1 -_

The first thing the hokage noticed was the fact he was still breathing and not inside the Shinigami's stomach. The second was someone poking him.

"Ow…." He said as he rolled over and looking into the eyes of a small child holding a stick. He was in the middle of a vast field and the boy staring at him was wearing a green tunic and loose green pants but no shoes. The boy's eyes were dark olive green, his skin a light color, and his hair was dark brown.

"Why are you sleeping in the middle of the road?" the boy asked.

"Road?" Minato croaked. The blond sat up and saw he was on a dirt path in the middle over several stone formations.

"You're dressed funny, mister," said the boy.

"I'm not sure where I am," Minato said as he looked around.

"You're in the Earth Kingdom," the boy said with a 'duh?' implied, "I'm Lee!"

"I'm Minato," said Minato.  
>"Your name's funny," the boy (Lee) said as Minato stood up. He looked around and nothing rang a bell: The large rock formations suggested maybe Iwa but some just yelled WRONG to him.<p>

'How did I even get here?' he wondered before the vortex came back to mind and Kushina.

"Kushina, why?" he said.

"Who's Kushina?" asked Lee.

"My wife," Minato said, "Is there a village nearby?"

"Sure!" Lee said, "You're definitely not Firenation! Which Water Tribe are you from?"

"Pardon?" asked Minato.

"You know, only Water Tribesmen have blue eyes and dress funny or so my grandpa says," said Lee.

"I'm not from either of those places," said Minato, "I'm from someplace else." Minato tried to summon a toad and nothing happened which suggested the impossible: Kushina's sacrifice gave him a chance at life in a world that wasn't his. They'd studied the theory for fun as a way to pass the time, but to be in one because of her sacrifice was both amazing and disheartening.  
>"Are you ok, Mister?" asked Lee, "You look like you just been in a fight with the Fire Nation!"<p>

"No, I kind of hit my head so would you tell me about these?" Minato said.

"Sure! Most grownups tell me to be quiet because I talk too much!" Lee said happy to have a captive audience.

Minato learned a lot from the chatty Lee and knew he had a purpose in this new world: They (The Earth Kingdom) needed help or they would lose to their technologically superior enemy (The Fire Nation). He also found out there was something similar to ninjas from his world in this one called 'Shadow Warriors' only there were also the elemental 'benders,' men and women able to control one of four elements that also corresponded with nations, except air which was now exterminated. He was accepted by the villagers with some odd looks, but he doubted they'd seen a blond before and blonds weren't all that common at home to boot. Once he got some along time her went through his techniques and found all of his element jutsu, except the windbased ones, were unsusable. The rest of his arsenal, including the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan were usable. He demonstrated his talents to the local Earth Kingdom Army official and the man was very impressed.

"What is it we are to call you?" asked the man.

"You can call me Yellow Flash."

Side Story completed Chapter 15 to come soon(ish)

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:Enjoy!

It is time for another installment of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Ichigo from Bleach  
><strong>

_"HAAAH!" a teenage boy's voice rang through the hall as the doors were kicked open. Ozai jumped to his feet to see a redheaded teen with a huge sword over his shoulder wearing black robes lined in white was in his doorway._

_"Huh, I expected more from Aizen," the boy said._

_"How dare you!" a randome Fire Nation guard yelled until Ichigo blocked the attack._

_"Great, more hollows," Ichigo grumbled as his cut his way through the ranks using Zangetsu to block their fire. He reached Ozai who looked ready to spit fire, and knowing him he probably would._

_"Which number are you?" asked Ichigo._

_"Of what?" Ozai spat._

_"Which Espada are you?" asked Ichigo._

_"What nonesene is that!" Ozai said before Ichigo beheaded him._

_"There you awe!" lisped Nell as she and her losers-er-minions caught up with Ichigo, "Thith ithn't Aithen's laya!"_

_"Oh," Ichigo said, "I knew this was too easy." With that Ichigo and his annoying clinger on-er I mean, his guide left._

Until Next Time!

**WARNING**: I proofread this chapter myself there are bound to be a few mistakes that I missed because my mind knows what should be there and fills in the blanks.


	17. Chapter XII

**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing except for a Nobody name

**MP**: I'm getting as bad as the anime whenever it comes to filler crap… -_-'

However, every time I open my document to try to write 15 I just draw blank. My classes are way more mentally exhausting than I'd anticipated which means my original work is suffering too.

I hope to have Chapter 15 up by Thanksgiving (if I can force myself to write it).

After that, I will try to update once a month until school or this book ends. Then I'll work on 3 and try to have it half way written before I post anything. So that's my game plan. Let's see if I stick with it.

This filler chapter will be several deaths of Ozai in a row (13 to be precise) in honor of Halloween

**Chapter XII: Filler, Filler Everywhere,**

**Bolt Out of the Blue Halloween Special:**

**_The Thirteen Deaths of Ozai_**

_"Werewolf Barmitzva. Spooky, scary. Boys becoming men. Men becoming wolves," Malik(Marik) from Yugioh Abridged, Paranormal Cractivity, by Little Kuriboh_

_Death 1_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Light Yagami from Death Note **1*

Ozai was puzzled by this young man in strange clothing who had appeared in his throne room after he had sent everyone away.

"I can hear the screams of the innocents you've killed. They scream to a god for Justice," the young man said as a manic glint appeared in his eyes, "I will be that god!" then, with an overly dramatic flourish, the young man with the strangely cut light brown hair wrote something in an odd looking book with weird characters on the front. If Ozai wasn't mistaken they looked like the words "Death Note." That's when it happened. Ozai's hand suddenly caught on fire, burning his flesh. The dictator tried to bend it off of him but it wouldn't obey him and spread until he'd completely spontaneously combusted. All that was left was his ponytail ornament and a pile of ashes.

Light smirked as he read over what he had written,

_Fire Lord Ozai. He will die after spontaneously combusting._

_Death 2_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Lelouch from Code Geass **2*

Ozai looked at the youth before him. This was getting strange. His men were surrounding him, one by one.

"How dare you barge in here!" Ozai said. The boy just stared at him with strange eyes before the boy said in a calm voice.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you to kill yourself by ordering your men to kill you." Ozai's eyes took on a red glow before he said,

"Men, I order you to destroy me now!" The already controlled firebenders obeyed without question, turning their Fire Lord into nothing more than a pile of charred flesh.

With that Lelouch left slowly. It wasn't as if he could have run very fast to begin with anyway…

_Death 3_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Cooler from Dragon Ball Z**

Ozai had a sense of déjà vu whenever he looked at this strange creature before him. It was tall, lizardlike, with blueish disks of reflective…skin on its head, shoulders, and on its hips.

"Why are you in my presence, monkey?" the creature said in a (dare I say) cool tone.

"How dare you address me as such, you vile creature!" Ozai said. The strange, mostly white thing raised a muscular arm and fired a small beam of light at Ozai, vaporizing him and half his throne room.

Cooler then left, more bored than ever.

_Death 4_

Ozai's death at the hands of: a **Neoshadow Heartless from Kingdom Hearts II**

Ozai was trying to out run strange creatures that seemed to be able to peel themselves out of the ground. When they did they had long, zigzagging antennae, dark blue veined muscular forms, and vile, vacuous yellow eyes. Fire bending worked to a degree but the creatures seemed to be multiplying no matter how many he destroyed because more would appear to take their place. Then it happened, one got him from behind. A light flashed and darkness enveloped Ozai. This darkness grew until a Darkside heartless stood where Ozai had once.

_Death 5_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Sora from Kingdom Hearts**

Direct continuation from death 4

The Darkside that had once been Fire Lord Ozai rampaged through his palace destroying most of it and stealing the hearts of many who inhabited it. It reached for the heart pulsing with darkness that was Azula whenever,

"FIRE!" a fireball slammed into its side and it hurt! The writhing creature turned its massive body towards the source, which was a young man with spikey brown hair that defied gravity, amazingly blue eyes, and a strange key shaped weapon. It knew this instinctively to be a Keyblade wielder and it needed to stamp out the boys light NOW. Next to the boy was an anthropromorphic duck and dog, each wearing some sort of clothing (the dog fully dressed, the duck only wearing a top and a hat). Having been in a world with many strange creatures (such as sixlegged flying bison and turtle ducks) no one batted an eye.

"Let's get 'em!" the dog said. The boy nodded before he charged in, keyblade at the ready.

Having fought more of these than he cared to count, Sora and the others knew the drill: take out the hands before going for its head. Once they defeated the creature and a pitifully small heart was released Sora nodded to the still frozen girl before he, Donald, and Goofy, ran off to take out more Heartless. After all, it was his job.

_Death 6_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Roxas and Axel from Kingdom Hearts II**

Semi continuation of 4 again. After all Ozai is one stubborn SOB. It stands to reason he'd leave behind a Nobody, so meet Zaxio who will be slaughtered soon

Zaxio remembered his life as Fire Lord Ozai. Now he was something… more than human. He could take on the Avatar now, he was sure. He should have found how to do this sooner. First thing's first, he needed to overthrow the organization.

"I don't think so newbie," said a voice. Zaxio turned to see the annoying redheaded wannabe firebender, Axel, and his blonde pet, Rocky.

"What do you want," Zaxio said.

"Look, talking to yourself out loud in front of a samurai Nobody is seriously stupid stuff whenever Roxas here controls them, got it memorized?" Axel said as he summoned his chakrams. Roxas summoned his kingdom key and said,

"By the way, Axel is my friend and the names ROXAS."

"You two are no match for me," Zaxio said as he summoned a pair of dao blades.

"First you take my flame, schtick and now you underestimate me? You really are PISSING ME OFF!" Axel said before he and Roxas attacked. Roxas was send sliding out of the battle just before Axel scored the final hit, making Zaxio fade into nothingness.

"Jerk used an underhanded move," Roxas said after he 'curaga'ed them both.

"Let's just tell Saix that this moron is dead," Axel said before they left number XIV's room. The short lived number XIV

_Death 7_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Black Cat AKA Train Heartnet AKA XIII from Black Cat**

Ozai thought he heard something. He turned to look and BLAM!

Azula had seen a strange man enter her father's throne room, she burst in and the stranger was gone with a shot from his odd weapon.

Train was beyond the outer walls whenever the alarm was sounded that there was an intruder. He leapt onto a nearby, departing merchant cart and was gone into the darkness.

_Death 8_

Ozai's death at the hands (well paws) of: **Fluffy the Three-Headed Dog from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone** Really, why did they change the title for the American version?

Ozai was walking back to his bedchambers whenever he heard a growling noise coming from a weapon storage room his personal guards would use. Ozai opened the door to see an enormous, three-headed dog staring down at him growling and drooling. He tried to get away but the middle head was too quick for him and had him by his ankle. The right head got one arm, and the left got the other. The heads all tugged until he rest in pieces at their feet.

_Death 9_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Dark Jak from Jak II**

Ozai stared at the strange man they had in captivity. He had long ears and strange hair that started off green but became blonde part way down. He'd been in the company of a similarly strange woman with green hair that sort of flipped upwards at the end. He would torture her to find out how he used the strange substances that had appeared to ooze out of the grounds. Ozai placed a burning hand on her exposed midriff. The woman screamed and the man snapped. His skin paled rapidly as strange violet electricity crackled all over his form, horns force their way out of his head standing out starkly against his now ash colored hair, dark claws were on his hands, his once electric blue eyes now pools of darkness above a snarling, fanged mouth. He was now able to rip out of the cage and then ripped the guards apart. His next target was Ozai himself.

When Jak came down from being Dark Jak he saw a lot of bloody carnage, yet Keira wasn't even covered in one blood droplet.

"So Dark Jak can be taught," Keira said as Jak found the keys and unlocked her chains.

"I guess so. Who knew," Jak said before he grabbed his things and they left.

_Death 10_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Darth Vader from Star Wars** (can we say irony boys and girls?)

Ozai stared in disbelief as this wheezing stranger in odd black armor wielded a sword of fire and used it to block his lightning as if he'd simply thrown a cushion at the tall, menacing form.

"You try my patience. Now tell me where the rebels are located!" Ozai could feel an invisible hand around his throat and spots forming in his vision.

"I, *cough* don't, know of any, r-rebels," Ozai said, while choking.

"You are lying to me," the man said before Ozai's windpipe was completely crushed and he died.

Darth Vader let the corpse drop to the ground in a heap. Though there was something about this man's voice that was familiar. Never the less, he would continue his search for those rebels, and his son.

_Death 11_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Rem from Death Note**

Ozai had his flaming hand near Misa's throat, Light was unconscious on the floor and Ryuk was being himself, which meant not helping. Rem was left with no choice. She pulled out her own Death Note and wrote down Ozai's name. He died of a heart attack right away while Rem became nothing more than a pile of sand with a Death Note resting in it.

_Death 12_

Ozai's Death at the hands of: **Vanitas from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep**

"You're pathetic, scared of a twelve-year-old boy," said the voice of a young man wearing a smooth reflective helmet that had a metal section attached to the chin and the neck armor. The suit was odd, black with red veins, and it looked almost organic. Plus there was that odd skirt thing around the waist. Ozai threw everything he had at the boy only to find it was blocked by an invisible shield.

"My turn," said the boy before he summoned a bizarre key-shaped weapon and sliced the tyrant in half.

"Killing non-keyblade wielders is so dull," Vanitas said before he opened a corridor of darkness and left.

_Death 13_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Malik from Yugioh**

Ozai didn't know what to make of the effeminate blonde before him clad in tight black pants and a lavender belly shirt wearing a lot of jewelry on top of all this. Clutched in the teen's right hand was a strange golden rod. In his left, what appeared to be a rectangle of parchment.

"You've insulted me for the last time, you fool," the young man said before he held the paper above his head. Ozai could now see there was a dragon of some sort on it.

"Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry, transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelope the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe. Unlock your powers deep within so that together we may win. Appear in this shadow game as I call your name... Winged Dragon of Ra!" The dragon appeared and Ozai nearly fainted there.

"Obliterate him!" the young man yelled. The dragon complied. Most of his palace was gone afterwards.

Malik was laughing hysterically.

"Ah, he should have seen his face! Now time to go kill the Pharaoh," Malik said before he dismissed Ra.

* * *

><p>1*My friend is on a Death Note kick to the point where she has gotten me to watch the movie and several clips of the anime. Though it confirmed that the psychological profile I'd mentally made for Light was dead on<p>

2*Please note all I know of him is summary from online sites but he's similar in character to other characters I've encountered *coughLightcoughhackwheeze* so I think I'll be able to get this down without butchering his character

Added 11/30/11

My friend, Makenzie Rush (the selfsame friend who was on the Death Note Kick) is on a Code Geass kick and has told me I needed to fix my Lelouch death. I have now done so, and she is happy.

**MP**: That's all folks!

Hope you enjoyed this special Halloween chapter, oh and one more thing… Happy Halloween!

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself, therefore there are bound to be mistake I have missed.


	18. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing!

**MP**: Well after a SUPER long delay (and three chapters of filler) Fifteen is finally finished! (and a full four days early) YAY!

**Naruto**: It only took you four months

**MP**: Remember my threat from my first filler chapter? Still valid

**Naruto**: *Gulp*

**MP**: All silliness aside, thanks to those who have been patient; it's been a while, I know, and I have a gagillion excuses but what it comes down to is I couldn't focus on this until recently. After I finish Book 2 (which I am hoping to be by the end of next May) I will go back and move the filler chapters to the end of the story to get chapters like Chapter 15 to their proper spots.

Review responses:

**Andrewx816**: Thanks and here's the actual update!

**Ferdawg**: Thanks for your compliments and I have finally managed to get this thing back on track. I hope this chapter is enjoyable

**georgster101**: I have to admit of the requests I only know the two and those are the FMA (I am catching up on Brotherhood slowly but surely) so Pride and/or Sloth might show up as Deaths in this book or the next.

**shinshinjane**:sorry for the wait

**tykronos**:All of them were fun to write, but I especially loved 10 as well. 9 was one I wasn't too sure on how well it would be received. I'm glad you liked it.

**XD**: Sorry, but I have to plead total ignorance on D. Grayman and Soul Eater

_Remember_: Keep your Ozai Death Requests coming!

This story is officially off hiatus and back on track to completion.

Now, without further ado, on with the show!

* * *

><p><em>-Previously in Bolt Out of the Blue-<em>

_"Why are you two freaking out?" asked Aang._

_"Look!" Naruto exclaimed pointing towards something. Aang saw it and gasped: rolling through the desert like a giant black centipede was a humongous drill with the outmost wall of Ba Sing Se as its target._

**Chapter 15: the Drill**

_"Most bugs are only yucky on the outside. But this one's yucky on the INSIDE!"_ _Blossom, Power Puff Girls_

Not only was the drill crawling along the desert but several tanks flanked it, like many ants. Then something folded up onto of steel struts. The ninja figured it was a cockpit of sorts. There was a flurry of movement near the walls as Earthbenders got into trenches.

"We've got to stop it!" Naruto said.

"Follow my lead!" Aang said as they flew back towards Appa and the others.

"Aang, what's going on?" asked Sokka.

"Are you blind?" asked Sasuke.

"We made it to Ba Sing Se and we're still not safe. No one is," sobbed Ying as they landed on the wall. They had just unloaded everyone whenever a guard approached them, spear in hand.

"What are you people doing here! Civilians aren't allowed on the wall!" he said. Aang looked directly at the man and said,

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever's in charge."

Inside the Drill, Outside Ba Sing Se

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall our troops will storm the city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of your father," said the commander of the drill, "Nothing can stop us."

"Hmm, what about those muscley guys down there," Ty Lee said as she looked out the periscope to see earthbenders getting into trenches.

"Please, the drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack!" the commander said as he brusquely smacked the periscope back up which made Ty Lee squeak. Azul, imperiously sat up and said,

"Oh I'm sure it is, War Minister Qing, but just to be on the safe side, Mei and Ty Lee take the Earthbenders out."

"Finally, something to do," Mei said as she stood up.

"Can we be of assistance, my lady?" asked an emaciated Fire Ninja.

"Not at the moment, but be ready," Azula said.

Command HQ Outer Wall, Ba Sing Se,

"It is an honor to welcome you to the outer wall, young Avatar, but your help is not needed," the smug, kind of monkey faced, general said.

"Not need?" Aang said.

"Like hell it's not!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, inside voice," Gaara reminded with a gag of sand. The blonde glared at him after which the redhead removed the sand from his mouth.

"Not needed, on any counts. I have the situation under control," said the man as he stood up and walked out of his office on the wall to the battlements that overlooked the drill, "I assure you, the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall."

"What about the Dragon of the West. He got in," Toph said as she expertly burst the general's bubble.

"Nice!" Naruto said.

"Wu-Well, technically, yes, but he was soon expunged," the general said after scrambling to formulate a comeback, "That's why they call it Ba Sing Se, the 'Impenetrable City.' They don't call it Na Sing Se! Haha! That means 'Penetrable City.'" Toph was not impressed.

"Yeah, thanks for the tour but we still got the drill problem," she said.

"Not for long. To stop it, I've sent an elite group of earthbenders called the Terra Team," said the general.

"That's a good group name. Very catchy," said Sokka.

"You would say that," Sasuke muttered.

"Hey! Enough already!" Sokka said.

"Don't yell at him!" Sakura said smacking Sokka.

"Ok, every time you do that from now on I will punch you like this," Toph said, and she punched Sakura in the arm

"HEY!" Sakura said rubbing her arm.

"I've had it up to here with your fangirlish ways and I will break you of it before you become even more of a sissy!" Toph said as she held her hand above her head, miraculously missing putting it up Katara's nose.

"I'm also sick of it," Hinata said locking eyes with Sakura, "The next time you go to hit Naruto; I will use a Gentle Fist strike on your arm and disable it."

"Guys, is now really the time to do this?" asked Katara as she looked at the other female members of their group while simultaneously pushing Toph's hand down.

"Just keep that in mind, Fangirl," Toph said annoyed as she walked over to where the General was looking out of a telescope.

Full Moon Bay,

The Konoha retrieval team had followed the scent of their quarry to the bay but found the Avatar and his crew had already left.

"Or some kid who was pretending to be the Avatar," The crabby woman said, "It wasn't a very convincing costume."

"Thank you," said Kakashi as he gave her one of his one eyed smiles. He'd been nominated (**) to go ask for information.

"Are you guys asking about that group with the loud blonde kid?" asked a guard.

"You would be?" asked Neiji.

"One of the Kyoshi warriors: Our leader went after them because it was the Avatar. We overheard some of them volunteering to go on the Serpent's Pass. I personally wouldn't but they're probably still on it if they crossed on foot," said the guard.

"Which way is this pass?" asked Minato.

"I'll point it out to you, but it's foolish to take it because it's so dangerous," said the Kyoshi warrior.

"YOSH! MY FLAMES OF YOUTH BLAZE BRIGHTLY THINKING ABOUT IT!" Guy said.

"YOSH! I WILL DO A 1000 SIT UPS IF I CANNOT COMPLETE THE PATH!" Lee said. Then suddenly a sunset appeared between the two weirdoes in spandex.

"GUY!"  
>"LEE!"<p>

"GUY"

"LEE!"

"Not this again!" Anko said as she turned her back on it.

"If it weren't so disturbing, it could have offensive capabilities," Sai deadpanned.

"No, that would be too cruel," Minato said after looking back at the scene only to avert his eyes again.

"So, we're going on this really dangerous pass, aren't we?" Jiraiya said.

"Since it's where Naruto went, and most likely Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke too, you bet your ass," Tsunade.

"I wouldn't if you said to," Jiriaya muttered.

BAM! SMASH! THUNK! Jiraiya was embedded in a stone wall, twitching slightly.

'Teacher, you never learn,' Minato thought with a sweat drop forming.

Near the Drill, Outside Ba Sing Se,

The Terra team looked very impressive as they moved as one and took out a tank before making pillars shoot up to try to stop the movement of the drill: the rock pillars were reduced to rubble. Then they barley blocked a knife attack from Mei as she and Ty Lee repelled down the side. Once Ty Lee's feet hit the ground, it was over. Her fluid like movements and chi blocking hits took down the whole squad.

Outer Wall, Ba Sing Se,

"WE'RE DOOMED!" the general said after he watched Ty Lee decimate the Terra Team.  
>SMACK! THWAK!<p>

"Get ahold of yourself man!" Sokka said after he slapped the General, at the same time, Naruto whapped him with his glider.

"Don't say stupid shit like that!" Naruto said.

"You're right," the general said as he rubbed his bruises.

"Maybe you'd like the Avatar's help now?" Toph said. The General sheepishly slid over to Aang and said in a squeaky, meek tone,

"Yes, please."

"If I were Aang, I'd have told him to go to Hell," muttered Naruto.

"If you were Aang, we'd be screwed," said Sasuke.

"Say that again, Emo!" Naruto growled. Then he realized what he'd called Sasuke.

'Damnit Fuzzy! Now you've got me doing it too!'

'**So you can teach a dumb blonde something**,' Nine-Tails said with a snicker.

"Naruto," Sakura growled before she pulled back her fist.

Whack! Jab!

Sakura's arm fell limp rendering her unable to rub the other arm which Toph had punched, Hinata's arm was still extended from her striking Sakura.

"We warned you," Toph said.

"And we will no longer tolerate this," Hinata said before she jabbed Sakura's arm again, painfully restoring movement.

A few moments later,

"So the question is, how we are going to stop that drill," Aang said as they looked over the wall. The group looked over at Sakura, Sokka, and Sasuke.

"Why are you all looking over at us?" Sokka said.

"Because you're the idea guys," Aang said.

"Oh, so only me and these two can come up with ideas? That's a lot of pressure to put on someone," Sokka said.

"And also you're the complaining guy," Katara said.

"That I don't mind so much," Sokka said.

"And the annoying guy," Sasuke said.

"And you're the, what did Naruto say, the Emo Guy," Sokka said.

"I say it too, Snoozles," Toph said with a huff.

"No, you say, Emo Princess, Lady Toph," Gaara said.

"Oh right. Thanks, Sandy," Toph said. Before Sakura could explode, a sand hand was on her mouth.

Ferry Dock-Subway Station, Ba Sing Se,

Zuko and Iroh had disembarked and Jet spoke to Zuko.

"You and me made a pretty good team. We could always use another man in the freedom fighters," said Jet. While this was happening Iroh had gotten tea from a vendor

"My uncle needs me," Zuko said as a way of dismissing the offer. Zuko went to sit next to Iroh who took a sip.

"Blegh! Coldest Tea in Ba Sing Se more like it," Iroh said before he used his firebending to make it warm. Zuko noticed and slapped it from his hand.

"They say you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it's just so sad!" Iroh sobbed.

"We're trying to keep a low profile, you can't go firebending your tea!" Zuko hissed.

Jet had noticed this and was now set to expose the Fire Nation exiles as firebenders.

Konoha Retrieval Team, Serpent's Pass,

The ninja's arrived at the pass and saw one side had patrol ships while the other side didn't. So they used tree walking to zip along the other side, on the water until they ran smack into the Fire Nation Sound Ninja's: a small army of them. Fighting some of the up top (after the path vanished into the water) was a young woman in makeup and a green kimono fighting with battle fans and holding her own quite well.

"Time to take out the trash," Minato growled as he tossed his special kunai at the stone path. While this was going on, Kakashi and Anko were using fire against fire while Tsunade sent people flying with her fists and into Temari's fan attacks. Neiji, Lee, and Ten Ten were working with their instructor to clear their own path, Hana sticking with them and her dogs (whom had all become beast clones and were also water walking).

"How many more of them are there?" asked Ten Ten as they fought, she was losing a lot of weapons to the water, and was getting angrier the longer they fought and the more weapons she had to use and lose.

"More than you could hand, bun girl," said Sai tonelessly as his ink drawings charged.

HQ A top the Wall of Ba Sing Se,

Katara was healing the members of the Terra Team with assistance from Hinata, who was also using the points to unblock the chi.

"What's wrong with them and what is she doing?" asked the General.

"Their chi is blocked, and Hinata's unblocking it," said Katara, "What happened?"

"There were these two girls, one who threw knives and the other she moved fast and she was able to take us down with a few hits. I couldn't move afterwards," said the Earthbender Katara was working on.

"Mai and Tye Lee, Tye knows the human body better than anyone: it's like she takes your down from the inside," Katara said, as she remembered how it felt when Tye Lee had taken her down.

"That's it!" Sokka said starling the others. Sasuke blinked before he realized what Sokka was on to.

"Precisely," Sasuke.

"Could someone translate?" asked Toph.

"We'll take the drill down from the inside," said Sokka.

"Something like that has to be very complex, and it wouldn't be too hard to sabotage," Sasuke said.

Konoha Retrieval Team, the Lake,

Wave after wave of the Sound Ninjas kept coming at the small team and despite the fact they had four Kage level ninja, the sea serpent wasn't helping matters much. Hana and Sai had to divert their efforts to attack it while the others were carving paths of destruction in the seemingly endless ninjas. Why it was taking so long? Curse seals on the under skilled, but extremely numerous ninjas made them a bit harder to kill. Fighting on the water made the Fly Thunder God technique next to impossible to use, their bending handicapped their jutsus and no one dared summoning incase the summons would be destroyed by crossing dimensions. In short, many powerful weapons had been removed from the retrieval team's hands to end the battle quickly. But it was clear that in spite of the seals and difficulties, the Konoha Retreival Team, with Temari and Minato, had the upper hand.

Outside the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, Drill

The group had snuck up on the drill and Toph made them some cover with dust, Gaara using sand to help.

"Ok, let's go!" Sokka said as they moved to get in it. Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke didn't need much prompting. Sakura grabbed Aang's hands as he hung down and helped her in along with Katara and Sokka.

"Toph, Gaara, come on," Aang said.

"There's no way I'm going in that metal thing," Toph said, "I wouldn't be able to see."

"I stay with Toph," Gaara said.

"Fine, we need to go!" Sokka said. Toph began to bend pillars into the undercarriage in an attempt to slow the drill down. Gaara began sand blasting at the support struts, his eyes tinting yellow the longer he did this.

Inside the drill,

"So now what?" asked Aang.

"We find the schematics for this thing," Sokka said as he whacked off a valve with his machete.

"What the! Someone's going to come running!" said Naruto.

"Exactly," Sakura, Sokka, Sasuke, and Hinata said. They exchanged looks before Sokka continued.

"A drill this big has to have a bunch of engineers running around it to keep it going, and they'll have to blue prints to fix it when they do," said Sokka before they hid.

It wasn't long before a shirtless, mask wearing engineer came to investigate, scematics in hand before Katara and Hinata struck, Hinnata taking the plans while Katara froze him solid while also freezing over the steam leak.

Sokka looked at the plans with Sakura and Sasuke leaning over his shoulder.

"We need to weaken it here," said Sokka pointing to where the outershell was connected to the inner mechanism.

"Those looked a lot thinner on the plans," Naruto remarked once they got to their desired location.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Sakura, "I mean only Sasuke can use fire and water and air don't do much- wait water can cut metal."

"Yeah, if we move it fast enough," Aang said.

"Yeah but air bending doesn't do much," said Naruto.

"Hinata and I can super heat and super cool the struts before you and Katara go to cutting them, weakening them," Sasuke said.

"Well let's go Team Avatar!" Sokka said.

"Team Avatar?" Katara said,

"Yeah, it's catchy," Sokka said.

"What will we do," Naruto said pointing to himself, Sakura, and Sokka.

"We'll cheer them on.

After what seemed like forever, only one strut had been cut through and parts of another that had be pre-heated and cooled. There was a massive shudder after it slid,

"We did it!" Sokka said. Then the announcement came,

"Congratulations crew, the drill has met the wall. Count down to victory has begun!"

Outside the Drill,

Toph's pillars weren't doing much,

"Come on Twinkle Toes!" She said as she pushed against one of her stone pillars. Gaara was making some headway against one strut, but it was slow going.

With Team Avatar,

"Come on, strut budge!" Sokka said as he pushed against it with help from a couple dozen Naruto clones.

"Why won't it just collapse!" Sokka said.

"We don't have to cut all the way through," Aang realized, "Just enough and then we put stress at one cricitcal point!"

"Way to Go Team Avatar!" Sokka said. Things moved more quickly after that, Sasuke using fire to blast through the beams and Hinata joining Aang and Katara.

Command Center, Drill,

"That's dust cloud looks poufy like it went pouf!" Tye Lee said as she looked out the Azula was immediately on alert. So it didn't help matters whenever the voice came on the communcations,

"One of the engineers had been found frozen and a support strut has been cut clean through, we fear it's sabotage," said the voice.

"Mai, Tye Lee, let's go and you, get your ninjas moving," Azula said.

With Team Avatar,

They were about to go after another beam whenever lightning flew at them. Azula and her two cohorts had arrived along with a couple of squads of Fire Nation Sound ninjas.

"I'll take care of these guys," Naruto said as he made more clones.

"I'll help," Sakura said.

"So will I," said Hinata. Mai and Tye Lee chased after Sokka, Sasuke, and Katara while Azula followed Aang leaving the three ninjas to fight to Fire Nation Sound Squads.

Outside,

Gaara and Toph were interrupted in their attempts at stopping the drill when they too were attacked by Fire Nation Sound ninja.

"These guys just won't go away!" Toph complained as they began to fight. Gaara spotted something moving out of the corner of his eye and ducked in time to avoid getting an ice shuriken in the back. Wearing blue was a group of what were to be described as stereotypical ninjas from the stand point of the Hurrican World ninja: These were dressed in masks and "ninja clothes" (which looked like pajamas to Gaara) like ninajs were in Western Civillian films. But the way they were moving was stealthy and ninja like and they were using ice pointing to benders.

"Let us take care of these pretenders, sandbender," said one of the 'ninjas.' He wore a short sleeved blue gi, his arms bare and ice floated around his fists.

"How is it you know the hidden arts?" asked Gaara as he crushed several of the enemies at once.

"Have you not heard of the Shadow Warriors?" asked the 'ninja.'

"Enough talk, Sandy, more bending!" Toph said.

"Yes, Lady Toph," Gaara said, "And where I come from, we are known as ninjas."

With Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata,

They were forced down the halls by the greater numbers and the cursed seal boosts, but Hinata used the pipes to her advantage: she made them explode and froze several at once letting the Naruto clones beat them down and lessen their pursuers. Sakura, using her imitation Tsunade technique was also able to help a bit, but her biggest contribution was managing to rig up some traps as they went, which the amateur Fire Nation Sound ninjas fell for. But those that were left were extremely skilled, which had the two benders fighting harder and found that in tandem, they were a force of destruction. They reached the slurry pipe and that was their cue to exit: Hinata freezing the way shut behind them. They arrived outside to see Sasuke, Sokka, and Katara were already there, Ty Lee behind them Katara and Hinata began to bend them back in,

"How do you like not being able to move, huh?" Katara said. Hinata kept bending as Naruto, Sokka, Sakura, and Sasuke brushed off the slurry as Toph and Gara arrived.

"Keep it up, the pressure is going to build up and make it explode!" Sokka said as Toph and Gaara joined, because it was also part earth.

Several minutes previous with the Water Tribe Siblings and Sasuke,

They exchanged fire with with Mai and Tye Lee, well Sasuke did, Katara had thrown Aang the water skin.

"This is our way out!" Sokka said once they found an opening into the slurry line. Katara leapt in first followed by Sokka.

"Figures," Sasuke said before he followed suite.

Surface of the drill,

Aang made it to the top, and began to slash a mark into the drill.

"What I wouldn't give to be a metalbender," he said as he was exhausted. It didn't help at all that the General and his next to useless Eerthbenders were bombarding the drill with large boulders (even after Aang yelled for them to stop). Then, Azula attacked him and a frenzied battle began. Aang, being tired was knocked to the ground unconscious as the drill finally broke through the wall. Aang's unconscious form slid partway under the wall before Azula picked him up. Rescue came at the claws of Momo, and Aang revived to fight some more. This time Aang defeated her with an air gust and finished his slash mark before he said,

"Now all I need is a," BANG! Yet another boulder fell down.

"Hey, that's exactly what I need," he said as he bent it into place before turning it into a wedge with earthbending. Then Aang ran up the wall. All the while, Azula was climbing back up to try to finish off/stop Aang. Aang then ran down, using air bending to gain more speed before he slammed down hard on the rock, the air shockwave sending Azula flying even farther. At about the same time the slurry line exploded, causing the drill to ooze from every segment.

"Meet with us in Ba Sing Se, if you are truly as you say," said one of the shadow warriors, "I am Grandmaster Xia Ling of the Xuĕ clan of Shadow Warriors. Find us if you can." With that they vanished with a puff of smoke.

Mai opened a hatch on the drill as Azula and Tye Lee wiped themselves clean of the sludge, the bored girl was perfectly muck free,

"We lost," Mai said.

Ba Sing Se, Subway,

"What a handsome child," Iroh said complimenting Ying as she held Hope.

"Why thank you," she said as earthbenders then moved their car into the city.

Elsewhere in the station, the Konoha Retrieval team was forging papers to also get processed.

"They have to be here," Kakashi said as he and the others used henges to appear like everyone else.

"Follow me," said a man with blue eyes wearing black.

"But the rails are over there," Minato said tensing.

"We have been expecting you, Yellow Flash," the man said.

"I am sorry, Xia Ling," Minato said after a moment bowing his head to the man, "It's alright he's an ally."

At a Fire Nation Port Colony, Akatsuki Duo,

"BLEGH!" Kisame retched as he knelt off the edge of the dock. Itachi, this time, had avoided getting his partner's gastronomic juices all over himself but using his ANBU level skills of evasion. That and he was expecting it.

"We need to move, they have a lot of ground on us," said Itachi.

"Cool your jets," Kisame said after he straightened up, "Those weaklings don't stand a chance."

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: And it is now time for yet another of _**The Many Deaths of Ozai**_

Ozai's Death at the hands of: **Sub-Zero (from Mortal Kombat)**

_Ozai heard a strange voice say,_

_"FIGHT!" facing him was a man in a black hood, blue face mask, blue sleeveless gi, black fighting pants and black boots. The strange thing was his arms, up to his biceps, seemed to have been made of ice. Ozai threw fire only to have the man block and make an ice statue of himself, elcitiing a voice to say,_

_"TOASTY!" _

_"Where is that coming fr-," he began before the ice warrior began to pound the snot out of him. As he stood stunned, he heard the same voice that said "Fight" said, _

_"FINISH HIM!" Ice covered him and that's all he knew._

_Sub-Zero summoned his Kori blade and slice the Ozaicicle in half._

_"FATALITY. FLAWLESS VICTORY!"_

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself, therefore there are bound to be mistakes I have missed.


	19. Chapter 16

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing!

**MP**:As promised, this is updated before the New Year! I'm surprised I did it all in one sitting. Keep in mind, the thing I start about Sakura in this chapter will be followed up and expanded in the next one.

And now for review responses (or one could simply go straight to the story either way works). Also, please keep your death requests coming!

Oh, and one final thing before the responses: I've asked a friend, Makenzie Rush (a fellow writer) to handle a couple of the Death Requests because MR knows some of the fandoms that I don't (such as Code Geass). Whenever a death written by MR appears I will give credit where credit is due.

_Now responses (as always in alphabetical order, or at least I try to do it that way)_:

**Andrewx816**: That will probably not be until the end of book 2, I'm afraid. And yeah, Neiji hasn't had his head straightened out ergo is still going to be a bastard to Hinata when the meet again. But the way I've been doing things, he tries he'll find that mouse can roar and has friends.

**Burnzs**: Thanks! I was worried about the Tayuya characterization. It had been a while since that part of Naruto and I had to go back and re-read it. As for the rest, you're truly making me blush. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.

**Ferdawg**: Thanks and here it is!

**formerlyarandomreveiwer**: That suggestion is brilliant! I'm saving her for just the right chapter. Dark Phoenix vs. the so called Phoenix king. I can see the carnage and none of it's Jean's (for once). Though even if she did die she'd just come back to life.

**RisingSolstice**: As for Kisame and seasick, well that was just me being as ironic as I could. And well, you'll see. The Akastuki are free agents in all of this. The retrieval team, technically is too, but after killing a bunch of Fire Ninja, well they are considered by the Fire Nation to be enemies. As for the other...we'll see

**Paper Planes**: As far as Naruto being over Sakura; He is but he doesn't know it yet. Keep in mind, he's gotten more comfortable teasing (read provoking) the pinkette and not trying to woo her, plus, seeing her drape her self on Sasuke constantly (without a break and other people also disgusted by it) has also begun to erode his illusion. That and he started getting attached to Hinata. Will he realize that he's attached to Hinata or that he's over Sakura? Not any time soon. After all, he's Naruto.

**tykronos**: I don't know the tiamat thing but I definitely know the other. And she/it might make an appearance as a death.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: City of Walls and Secrets<strong>

_"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope_

One were familiar with Ba Sing Se then they were used to the earthbending powered monorail going from the port into the city. The animals weren't really bothered by the four car, stone train but what was strange were the people sitting _on top _of the roof on one of the cars. One was sitting up front, glider staff in hand, blonde hair tossled by the wind, eyes closed and enjoying it.

"You act just like a dog with its head out a car window," remarked Sakura startling Naruto out of a rare moment of silence from the blonde.

"You would know this how?" Gaara asked, the red head quirking.., well, he didn't have eye brows but he had the ridges so he quirked one of those.

"You see it all the time in those Western movies," Sakura said, blushing. Hinata was sitting behind and to the right of Naruto, Sasuke sitting directly behind him, and Gaara to the back and left of him with Sakura sitting the farthest back on the roof.

"So, want to tell us why you're freaked out?" Naruto asked.

"What!" Sakura said.

"We've all noticed," Hinata said, "Even Sasuke."

"Hn," Sasuke said though he hid a smirk at the shy heiress,

'From, as Toph would put it, a "Jelly-boned wimp" to being able to insult me casually, Hinata's come a long way,' Sasuke thought, he caught Naruto's eye and saw the blonde approved too, but that was Naruto.

"Remember when you three found me and my hair was partially brown?" Sakura said as she looked at her knees (she'd assumed a more fetal position the closer they got to Ba Sing Se).

"Yeah," Naruto said as he turned his head back.

"It was here. They took me to some place, I can't remember its name, and tried to brainwash me. It took every lecture we got on anti-interrogation techniques from Iruka to keep my mind long enough to escape, and even then, Inner Sakura was close to taking over," Sakura said.

'**HELL YA**!' the slight split persona piped up in Sakura's mind.

"You could wear a henge," Gaara suggested, "Though, you are a known member of Aang's entourage. If they were wise, they wouldn't dare try anything."

"But I don't know exactly, _who_ they are. All I know was I was in Ba Sing Se, at first, and then that other place," Sakura said, "My first week on the run, I had nightmares they'd find me and drag me back-."

"Listen to me," Hinata said startling the pinkette from her proximity. Sakura hadn't even see her approach, "It will get better. Maybe not any time soon, but the nightmares have already started to decrease frequency, yes? They won't ever completely go away, but you will get over this."

"You're stronger than you think!" Naruto said as he turned around. Sasuke said nothing so Naruto smacked him across the back of his head, mussing up the duck-lick.

"You've held together so far and now. As Gaara pointed out, with you part of Aang's group, they won't try anything, so long as you're with others," Sasuke said.

"Let's get back in the car," said Sakura as she walk walked down to a window, followed by Gaara and Sasuke.

"Are you coming Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Nah, I like it up here," Naruto said. Hinata smiled before she turned as if to follow suite but instead sat down near Naruto,

"I do too," she said.

Inside the train car,

Katara was rubbing her shoulder from it being sore and Aang was zonked out. Katara looked up and then spotted it: the Inner Wall of Ba Sing Se. So she got Aang back to alertness and said,  
>"Look the Inner Wall!" Aang looked and saw three pairs of sandaled feet.<p>

"AHH!" He said jumping back before he realized who those feet belonged to. Katara giggled as she opened a window and let them in.

"I can't believe we've finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece," Katara said as the others too their seats.

"Hey! Don't jinx us! We could still get attacked by a giant exploding Fire Nation Spoon or the city's been submerged in an ocean full of kill shrimp," Sokka said. Gaara and Sakura merely held their foreheads in their palms while Sasuke rolled his eyes and said,

"That's about as likely as me tap dancing in a tutu."

"What have you both been drinking and can I have it?" Toph said.

"What? Weird stuff happens to us," Sokka said. As if on cue, a strange fat man wearing ill-fitting green clothing, chewing on a giant, thornless, pineapple looking thing flopped down between Sokka and Toph. No one said a word.

"So where are we going to stay, we've got one house guest who's kinda large," Sokka said.

**Train Roof**,

Also on one of the train roofs was Appa, snoozing, making the whole car shake with his snores, frightening the poor passengers of his chosen bed.

**With the rest of Team Avatar,**

"Where are we going to keep a giant flying bison!" Sokka said before they went into a giant tunnel. When they came out a large settlement with homes _everywhere_ lay splayed out before them.

"Oh," was what he said. They could hear whoops of amazement _through _the roof.

"Well at least Naruto's enjoying the view," Katara said laughing a little. They arrived at the very nice tram station with everyone in the cars getting off and the two humans on the car roof jumping off and landing nimbly on their feet. Appa roused himself and flew off before landing with a THUD felt through the whole station.

"Back in the city, great," Toph remarked with a sigh.

"What's the problem! The city's amazing!" Sokka said. The ninjas exchanged looks as Toph went on,

"It's nothing but a bunch of walls and rules. You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days."

It was then that the ninja's got a sense of something…_off_. The train moved away leaving behind a woman in a yellow dress with long black hair, a bizarre green hair piece and a vapid smile on her face.

Having seen WAY too many imported horror/suspense films Naruto was freaked out by her smile. But the reaction that got the most attention from the others was Sakura's complete and total terror.

"Hello, I am Joo Dee. I have been given the honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se and you must be Sokka, Katara, Toph, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Gaara, and Hinata. Welcome to our wonderful city," she said pleasantly as if her very presence hadn't caused distress among some members of the Avatar's entourage.

Her greeting put the other ninjas on alert for different reasons for each person.

For Gaara, something about her set off his instincts that had helped save his life (along with Shukaku's sand, which wasn't very effective against poisons).

For Hinata, she was reminded far too much of the ambassador from Cloud.

Sasuke, was suspicious that someone had been prepped this well and knew all their names. Maybe knowing one or two names would be plausible and even three of their names. But having seen wanted posters, most of them got Gaara's name wrong (if a name was listed it was Hong Se De Sang,* which meant 'Red Sand' according to Sokka), wrote his name as Suhs Ke, Naruto's as Ne Ru Toh, Sakura's as something like Yinghua** (according to Sokka it meant the same thing), and Hinata's was surprisingly correct, which meant that her knowing all their names, and the correct ones (in the case of Sakura and Gaara) and pronunciations at that, was not within the realms of logic. What put the prodigy further on edge was the fact Joo Dee knew who to nod to with each name. While it could have still been the wanted posters, it paired with her creepy timing just set off all sorts of warning bells.

The ninjas, unsure of what to do decided to follow Aang's lead with silent eye signals.

"Shall we get started?" asked the oblivious woman.

"Yes, we have important information on the Fire Nation army we need to deliver to the Earth King immediately," Sokka said, also ignortant of the ninja's responses to Joo Dee, though at least he was acting serious (well as serious as Sokka got). The response was another vapid smile,

"Great! Let's begin our tour," as if Sokka hadn't said what he had said, "And then I'll show you to your new home here, I think you'll like it."

"AUGH!" Sokka exclaimed annoying by her strange behavior before he quasi stormed over,

"Maybe you missed what I said. WE need to talk to the King about the war, it's important" Sokka said getting in her face.

"She's not going to listen, moron," Sasuke muttered. The ponytailed boy shot the avenger a glare before refocusing on Joo Dee. Empty smile, never wavering for one second,

"You're in Ba Sing Se now, everyone is safe here," she said as if talking to a rather young child. The dubious looks she was given were, of course, ignored. Well that was eight dubious looks, a look of terror, and a bored bison/lemur pair.

"Come, a carriage, is waiting for us," said Joo Dee.

"But we have Appa," said Aang.

"I am sure he will be just fine flying above us, besides, we couldn't all fit anyway," said Sokka.

"I'll go with Appa," Sakura said before she bolted and was in the bison's saddle.

"I will too," said Hinata after she looked away from Naruto reluctantly.

"Sandy, go with them," Toph said.

"Why, Lady Toph?" asked Gaara.

"They might need you," said Toph, "You're like our personal shrink or something."

"Very well," Gaara said before he also joined the girls on Appa. Which left Naruto and Sauske with the others.

The ostrichhorse drawn carriage was going through a decidedly run down part of the city. Katara, Toph, and Aang sat on the forward facing bench of the carriage, Momo hung from a decorative cornice on the roof, and the remaining three were on the same bench, with Naruto crammed against the window trying to stay away from Joo Dee.

'**So, you've finally gained some ninja skills**,' Nine-Tails remarked.

'What do you mean?' Naruto asked, 'I'm just trying not to get our souls sucked out.'

'**If I had a body, I'd eat you then do a face-paw from this bit of "brilliance" on your part**,' Nine-Tails said, the irritation was plainly heard by the blonde.

"Take that back!" Naruto yelled. If Joo Dee noticed this, she didn't give any indication. Then again, Joo Dee didn't notice much that she wasn't programmed to notice.

"This is the Lower Ring," Joo Dee said, as if the blond hadn't had an outburst.

"What's that wall for?" Katara asked.

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls. There are the ones outside protecting us and the ones inside that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live along with our craftsmen and artisans. People that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively," Joo Dee said.

'How Shallow' thought Sasuke as they looked out the window at a scene that was not quaint nor was it lively. In fact it looked downright dangerous. Well dangerous to a non-ninja. Having lived in a village where, when certain females were angered, it sometimes seemed to rain kunai, Sasuke and Naruto weren't impressed.

"You do want to watch your step though," Joo Dee said, and for the first time her vapid smile faded slightly, and she had something that might have been apprehension on her face.

"Why do you have all these poor people blocked off from the main part of the city?" Katara asked.

"That's why I never came here before," Aang said, "I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."

"Our society is segregated but for a military purpose, not truly based on class," Sasuke said.

"Of course, you'd say that: you're a Clan heir," said Naruto with a snort.

"Technically, so are you," said Sasuke.

"Guys, later," said Toph ending the squabble. Aang continue to look out the window.

**Elsewhere in the Lower Ring,**

Zuko trudged along with an unhappy look on his face. His Uncle was slightly behind him, a huge grin plastered on his face and a vase of cheery looking flowers clasped to his chest. Zuko gave his uncle a sidelong glance at the flowers.

"I just want our new place to look nice in case someone brings a lady friend home," he said suggestively adding an elbow nudge.

"This city is a prison, I don't want to make a life here," Zuko said, filling his obligatory role as rain on the parade.

"Life happens where you are whether we make it or not! Now come on! I found us some new jobs and we start this afternoon," Iroh said, used to his nephew (and brother for that matter).

Unbeknownst to them (well possibly beknownst to Iroh), they were being followed by Jet.

"Look at them, firebenders living under everyone's nose," Jet said in disgust.

"Jet, you saw a man with a hot cup of tea, we don't know that he's a firebender. And what if he is, are we supposed to attack them? I thought we were starting over here, changing our ways," said Smellerbee, trying to talk her leader down. Hatred is an ugly, irrational thing.

"We are," Jet said, "When I get the evidence I need, I'll report it to the police and they can handle it. Ok?" Longshot and Smellerbee exchanged looks.

**With Team Avatar,**

They were to a section where the carriage, still under Appa's shadow, rode through an area filled with rivers.

"This is the Middle Section of Ba Sing Se, home to our financial district, shops and restaurants, and a university," Joo Dee said.

"Yeah, we met a professor from Ba Sing Se University, he took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered important information about the war that is absolutely crucial for the King to hear!" Sokka said.

"Moron," Sasuke said.

"I thought you preferred to call him "Buffoon?"" Naruto said.

"He's been downgraded to "Moron," Dead Last," Sasuke said, a smirk threatening to appear.

"Whatever, Bastard," Naruto said with a smile.

During this exchange they missed Joo Dee's response but the pair didn't care.

"A look, here's one of the oldest bulding's in the Middle Ring, Town Hall," Joo Dee said as the carriage stopped and she got out.

"Is that woman deaf? She's only hearing ever other word I say," Sokka said.

"It's called being handled, get used to it," Toph said in a tone that was flat. It also indicated she'd been through something like this before.

**Lower Ring Tea Shop,**

"Well you certainly look like official tea servers, how do you feel?" the man said.

"Ridiculous," Zuko said in his apron while Iroh struggled to get his on over his girth.

"Does this possibly come in a larger size?" he asked.

"I have extra string in the back," the employer said, "Have some tea while you wait." He handed the duo a cup of tea apiece. He turned and left.

It was about this time Iroh took a drink, a large one at that and made a disgusted face.

"Yaugh! This tea is nohing more than hot leaf juice!" he said in outrage.

"Uncle, that's what _all_ tea is," Zuko said in annoyance. Iroh looked even more disgusted.

"How could a member of my _own family_ say something so horrible!" Iroh said as he walked forwards and grabbed the tea pot.

"We'll have to make some realy changes around here," he said as he dumped it out a window, nearly hitting the eavesdropping/spying Jet, who scampered away at both getting hit by boiling hot water and nearly getting caught.

**With Team Avatar, -Upper Ring,**

"The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here," Joo Dee said. They passed a huge walled structure with very stern looking men in green and black robes near the only entrance. Naruto, despite his, uh, _naiveté_ at times knew these were not men to be trusted. He heard what sounded like applause.

'Knock it off, Fuzzy,' Naruto mentally sent.

'**But you finally saw "underneath the underneath" like your porn obsessed teacher is always preaching to you**,' Nine-Tails responded with a snicker.

"What's behind that wall?" asked Katara, after which Sokka asked,

"And who are those mean looking in robes?"

"That is the entrance to the Royal Palace and those men are agents of the Dai Li, the Cultural Authority of Ba Sing Se; they are the guardians of all our traditions," Joo Dee said with a an eye crinkled smile.

"Can we see the King now?" Aang asked, fed up with the tour (and to be honest bored). Joo Dee, once again, treated them like small children and said with a rather fake laugh,

"Oh-ho no. One does not simply pop in on the Earth King." Naruto did a full out face palm, while Aang just dropped his head from frustration and Sasuke,

"Hn."

"Here we are, your new home," Joo Dee said, they disembarked and Appa landed behind them. A messenger arrived and handed Joo Dee a scroll, "More good news. Your request to visit the Earth King is being processed and should be put through in about a month, much more quickly than usual."

"This sounds worse than the housing office back in Konoha," Naruto complained.

"A MONTH!" Sokka complained.

"Six to eight weeks, actually," Joo Dee said as if it were the most exciting, cheery thing in the world. Hinata was seriously considering using her gentle fist on the woman. She hadn't been around her as much as the others who endured the whole ride with her, which meant that the fact Naruto hadn't exploded yet was nothing short of amazing.

The humans entered the house portion while Appa flew to the stable next to it with his name on it, though it was a tight fit, Appa was curled up and went to sleep.

"Isn't it nice? I think you will really enjoy it here," Joo Dee said.

"I think we'd enjoy it more if we weren't staying so long," Sokka said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Sokka," Sasuke said.

"Wow, something must seriously be wrong with Sasuke," Naruto stage whispered to Gaara.

"Maybe, but I also concur with the others," Gaara said.

"Anyway, is it possible to see the Earth King any sooner?" Sokka said putting a stop to the side conversation.

"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world, but he will see you as soon as time permits," Joo Dee said, need it be added that she did so patronizingly? Sokka was not amused.

"Perhaps you would like to see some of the things mentioned during our tour in person," Joo Dee said.

"That would be great, thanks!" Aang said. Sokka looked annoyed until it hit him.

"That would be perfect!" Sokka said.

"We DON'T need a babysitter," Toph said angrily.

"But I can't leave you by yourselves. That would make me a bad host," Joo Dee said.

"We'll pass on that," Naruto said rudely.

"What the loud mouth is trying to say is we are tired and wish to stay here. If the others want to go out and about they can," Sasuke said.

"Me too," Sakura said, keeping at least three people between her and Joo Dee.

"Me as well," Gaara said.

"I'll go with you guys," Hinata said.

They started in the Lower Ring.

"Have you heard anything about a man called the "Yellow Flash?"" Hinata asked as something came to mind.

"Uh, that name doesn't-," the man began.

"We know you know, now talk!" said Sokka. Unseen was Joo Dee's creepy grin and head shake combo.

"Uh, he would be a vigilante and that's illegal," the man said before running.

They arrived at the university and found a student, Hinata, thought she heard something and activated her Byuakugan, so she wouldn't alert anyone else, but noticed Joo Dee shaking her head before she saw the kid get nervous and run away.

'Strange,' she thought.

They arrived back at the house,  
>"I am sorry you weren't able to learn anything, someone will be over later with dinner," Joo Dee said. After she and her carriage left they saw a house across from theirs with a nervous man in it. He hid until Sokka knocked on the door.<p>

"Oh, you're the Avatar, I heard you were in town," he said in a funny tone, "I'm Pong."

"Nice to meet you, Pong," Aang said with a bright smile.

"So Pong, what's going on with this city? Why is everyone so scared to talk about the War?" Sokka asked.

"War? Scared? What do you mean," Pong said, and the tone to his voice became identifiable: it was fear.

"I can feel you shaking," Toph pointed out,

"And I can see you," Hinata said after she activated her byukugan again.

"Look, I'm just a minor Government official. I've waited _three years_ to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble.

"Get in trouble with who?" asked Katara.

"Shh! Shh! You _can't_ mention the War here and whatever you do, stay _away_ from the Dai Li," Pong said before he slammed his door shut.

"This is worse than the caged bird seal," Hinata remarked as they returned to the house.

"The what?" Sokka asked. Hinata didn't offer any more information.

"So what'd you find out?" Sakura asked.

**Lower Ring,**

"Would you like me to make you some tea?" Iroh asked Zuko as he the teen laid on his cot.

"Uncle, we've been working in a tea shop all day, I'm sick of tea!"

"Sick of tea! That's like being sick of breathing," Iroh said. Watching on a roof nearby was Jet.

"Have you seen our spark rocks to heat up the water!" Iroh said very loudly.

"They're not there," Jet said to himself, unclasping a fist and revealing the missing spark rocks, "You'll have to firebend, old man." Iroh walked out of Jet's line of sight,

"Where are you going?" he wondered aloud.

"I borrowed our neighbors! They are such nice people!" Iroh said as he used the rocks to spark the fire.

**Upper Ring, House of Team Avatar (and guests),**

While Katara was the first of the orginal GAang to get up and go outside, the ninja's were out back training. Especially Naruto who, through hard work and clone spamming, was very close to mastering airbending.

"I've got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King," they heard Katara say. The ninjas rushed back in to hear Toph say, as she mocked Joo Dee,

"One does not simply pop in on the Earth King.

"It says tonight the Earth King is throwing a ball for his pet Bear," Katara said reading the flyer in her hands,

"You mean platypus bear," Aang said lounging on what looked to be a railing.

"No, it just says 'bear,'" Katara repeated.

"Certainly you mean his pet skunkbear," Sokka said as he laid with his back on the floor and feet against the wall,

"Or his armadillobear," Toph added,

"His gopherbear," Aang chimed in.

"Just bear," said Katara.

"This place is weird," Toph said.

"You're joking right?" Naruto said, "We've seen plenty of just bears!"

"That just proves wherever you're from is weird too," Toph said.

Katara decided to explain before another derailing conversation could begin,

"The palace will be packed, we could sneak in with the crowds," Katara said.

"Won't work," said Toph, Sasuke, and Hinata. Toph was the one who chose to elaborate,

"No offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away," said Toph.

"Having been to many boring formal functions, I agree with Toph," Hinata said, "No offense but nobles are ignorant of a lot of things but they notice the shallow things in life."

"And you've got no manners," Toph added before she grabbed a nearby pastry and took a very unladylike bite out of it.

"Excuse me? I haven't got manner? You're not exactly lady 'fancy fingers,'" Katara said outraged. Toph burped which made Naruto laugh,

"I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it," Toph said before she tossed her uneaten snack off to the side, "You never learned anything and, frankly, it's a little too late."

"But you learned, maybe you could teach us," Sokka said.

"Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard could mastering a few manners be," Aang said.

"The fact you said that is one indication," Sasuke said.

Aang pulled down a curtain and wrapped it about like a cloak,

"Hello Sokka Watertribe, Katara Watertribe, Lord Momo of the Momo dynasty, your Momoness," Aang began.

"Oh, Avahtah Aang, do go on!" Sokka said in a posh accent before they started bowing to each other.

"5 ryu they smack heads," Naruto murmured as they watched the bowing exchange.

"No deal," Sasuke said,

CONK!

"I'm done with suckerbets," he finished after they fell to the ground.

"Katara and Sakura might be able to pass, Hinata doesn't need to but you two and Blondie would be lucky to pass as busboys. As for Sandy, it's better he doesn't come or he'd probably kill everyone from the fact they're all so annoying," Toph said.

"I can't," Sakura said, "I'll stay with Gaara and Appa."

"Alright," said Hinata, "I think I should stay too."

"I have an idea," Naruto said, "I need a room and some…girl's clothes."

"Blondes aren't common here!" Sokka complained.

"But the thing is, I can alter my Sexy Jutsu," Naruto said after Hinata got up and motioned for Naruto to follow.

"Toph, Katara you two can tend to eachother," Hinata said, "I need to help Naruto with his idea. If he doesn't pass your test, Toph then he'll sneak in with the others."

Several hours later,

Toph and Katara emerged mad up and their hair braided like Earth Kingdom nobility.

"Ok, Sister, where is he?" Toph said before lifted a foot up and set it back down, "How was he able to do _that_?"

"What?" asked Sokka, after he flicked Aang out of his Katara induced haze.

"His vibrations come back as if he was a girl," Toph said. Hinata slid open another door to reveal a busty redheaded woman who looked related to Naruto but had green-blue eyes and her long red hair tied into loops around her head with a simple blue-green lotus clip in her hair, her dress a darker green than Toph and Katara's though of the same style.

"Na-Naruto?" Katara said inspecting the new woman.

"It's Naru_ko_ like this," the girl said with a gentle smile.

"I taught Naruko a few things on how to act demure and that her best bet was to stay silent and if she felt the urge to act like Naruto, talk to her tenant," Hinata said, Sakura noticing the faint blush. Has this been even a half year ago, Hinata's face would have been tomato red.

"You look like you're related to you," said Katara.

"That's because I based this on what my mother looked like," Naruko said.

"Ok, here's a test. Why that is a lovely dress you have on," Toph said.

"Why thank you," Naruko said softly and looked down. Toph could see it didn't come easy but Naruko could pass so long as they explained that she was rather high spirited and working on it.

"Ok, what about him?" asked Sokka pointing to Sasuke, who wasn't dressed up at all.

"I'll be sneaking in using a henge," Sasuke said and he poofed into a random man in green with a long black que. He unpoofed, "I'll also be helping you guys get in."

"We'll see you later," Toph said as she, Katara and Naruko left. Momo walked past wearing a curtain like a cape.

**Lower Ring,**

Jet stared at the tea house intently.

"Jet we need to talk," Smellerbee said startling their leader.

"Oh, great it's you guys. Where have you been? I could use some help with surveillance here," he said facing the approaching freedom fighters.

"We've been talking and we think you're becoming obsessed with this," Smellerbee said, "It's not healthy."

"Oh really, you both think this?" Jet said in a disbelieving/betrayed tone. Longshot placed a hand on Smellerbee's shoulder,

"We came here to make a fresh start but you won't let this go even though there's no real proof," Smellerbee said.

"Well, maybe if you'd help me," Jet said in a kind of desperate tone.

"Jet, you've gotta stop this!" Smellerbee pleaded.

"Maybe you've forgotten why it is we have to start over, how the Fire Nation left us homeless and wiped out all the people we love? If you don't wanna help me, I'll get the evidence on my own," Jet said as he made a rash decision. His friends watched helplessly as he approached the tea shop.

**Tea House-Inside,**

"This is the best tea in the city," the soldier Jet had seen enter said as he accepted a cup from Iroh.

"The secret ingredient is love!" Iroh said expressively. Zuko looked like he wanted to gag on that line as his uncle walked away to stand near the owner.

"I think you're due for a raise," he said pleasantly. That's when the door slammed open revealing Jet.

"I'm tired of waiting! These two men are firebenders," he said pointing to the Fire Nation exiles before he drew his hookswords. The duo merely exchanged looks.

"I know they're firebenders. I saw the old man heat his tea!" Jet said.

"He works in a tea shop," another soldier said after he shot an 'are-you-kidding-me' look at his brother in arms.

"They're firebenders, I'm telling you!" Jet said moving his swords about.

"Drop your swords boy," said the second soldier, "Nice and easy." He and his counterpart stood up as Jet advanced.

"You'll have to defend yourself and then everyone will see," Jet said, "Go ahead, show them what you can do." By this time Zuko had set down his tray, and moved forwards,

"You want a show," shink! Zuko grabbed the soldier's dual daos, "I'll give you a show." With that he snapped them apart and into a fighting stance. Then it was on. Zuko was clearly the more graceful fighter whereas Jet was formidable in his own right. That poor tea shop never stood a chance.

**Royal Palace, Upper Ring,**

They tried to get in on Toph's golden boar seal but the guard wasn't having it. Naruko had to be dragged away before she caused a scene. Then Katara saw a man in a carriage arrive and got an idea. The other two followed her before she put on a helpless act.

"Excuse me sir, could you help us? Our cousin lost out invitations, she's blind, and now they won't let us in and our families are waiting for us and they must be terribly worried," Katara said. Naruko merely nodded.

"I am honored. Please come with me," the man said after a moment and he bowed to them. Naruko giggled and got smacked for it. As they passed the guard all three stuck their tongues out at them.

**Ballroom,**

The party was full and the guest of honor was in fact a brown bear wearing a traditional Earth Kingdom styled yellow and green top with a hat sitting near two men. Those poor men. The man escorted the trio into the room.

"It's beautiful isn't it? By the way, I'm Long Feng, a cultural minister to the King," the man said.

"I'm Qua Mei and this is Dum," Katara said. Toph's response, she yanked on Katara's headpiece,

"And you?" Long Feng asked looking at the 'redhead.'

"I'm Xuanwo***," said Naruko.

"Now where is your family; I'd love to meet them," he said.

'Shit' thought Naruko.

"Uh, I don't see them right now, but I'm sure we'll find them soon. Thanks for all your help," Katara said before she led Toph away, Naruko followed. But he was back in front of them in no time.

'Is he a ninja?' Naruko wondered.

"Don't worry, as your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon you without finding your families first. We'll keep looking," Long Feng said as he took the lead.

'Double shit,' Naruko thought.

'**What gave that away, oh-observant one**,' Nine-Tails said.

'A little warning sooner would have been nice!' the jailor said to his/her prisoner.

'**You were more preoccupied with appearing the part of a proper lady**,' Nine-Tails snickered.

'Shut up,' Naruko thought as she then decided to use he own stealth skills to slip away.

**Outside,**

"Where are they?" Aang asked.

"I came up with a back-up plan, we dress Momo up as a ghost,ok? He flies past the guards creating a distraction, then we blast a hole in the wall-," Sokka said.

"Or we can go in with those guys. Toph said we might pass a busboys," Aang said interrupting the ludicrous plan and pointing a bunch of arriving servers

"Where's broody?" Sokka asked, "And remember that Momo-ghost plan, I think it's a winner."

"I was getting these," Sasuke said tossing the duo uniforms before he henged into another worker in an identical uniform. They sneaked over, changing on the fly.

**Tea Shop, Lower Ring,**

Zuko was sent flying out a window by Jet who continued their sword fight.

"You must be getting tired of using those swords, why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" Jet taunted as they locked blades.

"Please, son, you're confused, you don't know what you're doing!" Iroh pleaded as he stepped out the door.

"I bet you wish you'd wipe me out with a little fire blast now," Jet said before he did a complicated sword maneuver swing his one hook sword around with the other by the hooks. But Zuko was better and pinned a sword to the ground with one of the daos.

"You're the one who needs help," Zuko responded before he slashed as Jet so fast, sparks flew because of the steel, and Jet bent back, his ever present piece of grass sliced by the thin stream of what appeared to be flame.

"You see that? The Fire Nation is trying to silence me!" Jet said after he jumped away onto a well, "It'll never happen HAH!" with that he flung himself back into the fight with Zuko.

**Ballroom, Royal Palace, Upper Ring,**

"Where are Toph and Katara?" Aang asked as he held a teapot. Sokka had a tray of crab puffs and Sasuke had vanished.

"Forget about them and focus on finding the King," Sokka said, as Momo, who was acting as Aang's hair waggled his tail too much.

On the other side of the room a redhead made herself blend in more than one would think with hair like that.

"So where are the others?" asked a voice as they stood next to her.

"With the guy who got us in, he wouldn't let us leave so I slipped off," Naruko said from behind her fan, "He's definitely not ANBU."

"Any luck in finding the King?" Naruko asked after a few moments. She stole a look at Sasuke who was himself but in Earth Kingdom noble dress. It was dark green with yellow trim.

"No, I'm starting to think that-," Sasuke then looked over to see Aang had revealed himself.

"That's it! We're giving them stealth lessons," Naruko said loudly.

"I don't know which is worse, them getting caught for that or you yelling," Sasuke said.

"Well only a few people are staring at me while everyone else is staring at them," Naruko said with a large grin, "I think I'm ahead for now." Everyone was rather focused on Aang as he showboated. Sasuke and Naruko saw someone move off to the side.

"That'd be Sokka," Sasuke said, "Stay here. If anything bad happens spam clones and get them out."

"Who died and made you Hokage," Naruko pouted.

"Don't do that like that," Sasuke said before he left.

**Lower Ring,**

The fight was still going with each teen wielding a sword each (and it was clear they were both used to having two). Then the Dai Li appeared.

"Drop your weapons," one said. The combatants broke apart at last.

"Arrest them they're firebenders," said Jet pointing at Zuko and Iroh.

"This poor boy is confused, we're just simple refugees," Iroh said.

"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees," said the shop owner.

"It's true sir, we saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the whole city," the second soldier said.

"Ah-ho-ha that's very sweet," Iroh said blushing.

"Come with us son," the Dai Li agents said. Jet resisted. The Dai Lie restrained him with stone hands they could earth bend like hand cuffs.

"You don't understand they're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" Jet said nearly crazed. He was tossed in a wagon with the crowds watching and some leaving. Also watching, sadly, were Smellerbee and Longshot.

**Ballroom, Royal Palace, Upper Ring,**

The Earth King was brought out on a large litter. Sokka had slipped through the crowds and ran into Sasuke. Before the other boy could stop him Sokka 'pissted' to Aang,

"Aang, the Earth King!" Aang, who had been playing with the bear looked over and used his air scooter to approach. While he was doing this the Dai Li Struck. Two hands got Toph because they came through the air, and the other two got Katara, Sokka tried the direct approach and was nabbed a lot like Jet had been. Naruko, having gotten better with awareness ducked the hands, and they grabbed a random patron. Sasuke flipped over them in midair.

"I'd have done that if I weren't in a dress," Naruko muttered and because of that didn't see the next couple sets coming and was also grabbed, but not before she let off a squeal, which distracted Sasuke and he was nabbed too. Aang stopped at the end of the table only to be greeted by Long Feng: Grand Secertariat of the Dai Li,

"I'd like to talk with you in the library. Your friends will be waiting for you," he said motioning for Aang to follow.

"Why won't you just let us talk to the Earth King!" Sokka yelled.

"The Earth King has no time to deal with political squabbles and the minutia of day to day military activities," Long Feng said.

"Bull shit!" Naruko said.

"How ever did you hope to pass her off as a lady?" Long Feng asked.

"The same way you pass yourself off as a human being!" Naruko replied.

"And what we have could be the most important information he's ever heard," Aang said.

"What's most important to His majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se," Long Feng said. Sasuke glared at the man, his sharigan activating, Naruko's eyes were tinging red, "All his decrees are issued for such. It is my duty to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military."

"So the King is just a figure head," Katara realized. Sasuke nodded.

"He's your puppet!" Toph yelled.

"Oh, no, no, His Maesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war," Long Feng said patronizingly.

"I'm getting sick of people talking down to us as if we're not seeing what's actually underneath your piece of trash mask!" Naruko said, her eyes becoming redder, a stone hand was clamped over her mouth.

"And we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless," Sokka said storming forwards, "You could lead an inva-."

"Stop. I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned in its walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a panic. Our economy would be ruined. Our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear.," Long Feng said.

"You adapt or you die," Sasuke stated blandly, "That's all there is to it."

"Be silent. By silencing all talk of conflict Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful utopia, the last one on Earth," Long Feng said.

**Lake Laogai,**

Jet was thrown into a chair and restrained by Dai Li before a light was passed in front of him.

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se," the man began, like a rather unconvincing hypnotist.

"What are you talking about? Where do you think all the refugees come from?" Jet said. After a while the light and the man's bland tone begin to take effect and the brainwashing began.

**Royal Palace Library, Upper Ring**,

"I think you have your words mixed up," Sasuke spat, "The proper word is Distopia." A stone hand slapped him. Or, it tried but Sasuke saw it coming and dodged.

"You can't keep this from all these people!" Katara protested.

"I'll tell them. I'll tell everyone!" Aang said.

"Until now you've been our honored guests. Now you will be watched by Dai Li agents all the time. Act up and you will be expelled from the City. I hear you are searching for someone. It would be a shame to leave the city without completing your quest. Joo Dee will show you home," Long Feng said as he removed the gag from Naruko. A woman walked in, dressed identical to Joo Dee, but it was clearly not her. Her face and hair were not even remotely similar.

"What happened to Joo Dee?" asked Katara.

"I am Joo Dee. I will be your host the whole time you are in Ba Sing Se," the woman said.

'Fuzzy, I think we're in deep trouble,' Naruko thought.

**Unknown Location beneath Ba Sing Se,**

Xia Ling led the Retreival Team, plus Minato, through several tunnels.

"In order to keep safe from certain powers we've had to hide deep underground and make entrances in places they have no power over," Xia Ling said. They arrived in a large room and saw three figures sitting on daises. One was red and gold (colors now attributed to the Fire Nation by the group), one was green and yellow (Earth Kingdom), and the last was orange, yellow, and white. Minato presumed this to represent air, and there was a fourth dais in blue, white, and silver with an unoccupied throne. The men and women sitting around this one were the largest numbers and even then, Minato would consider it to be about the size only ten three man cells total. The ones around the orange and yellow were about half that with only three possibly teams for each the red and green daises.

"I have brought the Yellow Flash and his comrades as requested," Xia Ling,

"Thank you, Grandmaster of the Xue clan," said the woman sitting on the orange, yellow, and white throne. She was dressed similar to what an ancient Main Land warlord was supposed to wear in orange and white.

"I am Grandmaster Fengdao of the Niao Clan," said the woman standing, her long sun blond hair closely cropped. On her forehead was a red arrow, an arrow seen on her warriors. During this intro Xia Ling had gone over to his dais.

"I am Grandmaster Huo Long of the Huo Shan Clan," said the elderly man on the red and gold throne, he was dressed more like the Damiyo's the other world travelers were used to.

"And I am Grandmaster Shanshi of the Shan Clan," said the youngest leader. He seemed to be barely in his teens with bright red hair, and familiar green eyes to two members of the team, it would have been more but Kakashi was looking elsewhere.

'Gaara!' though Minato and Temari. But this doppelganger had eyebrows and no mark on his head nor were his eyes ringed with black circles. Minato reanalyzed the others and stopped dead when he realized Fengdao could have been his female twin. Her blue eyes bore into his with suspicion. He looked over at the old man who was Huo Long and he was a dead ringer for Sarutobi. Xia Ling removed his face mask and only Kakashi recognized who he looked like: Zabuza.

"Since when did your brother not look like a psycho, Four Pony Tails," Sai said.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>:That's all folks!

And it is everyone's favorite time...RECESS! Oh no? Oh, it's time for yet another of _The Many Deaths of Ozai_.

Ozai's Death at the hands of: **Sorceress Sisters Twinrova from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time**

_Ozai didn't know what was going on but one moment things were peaceful in his throne room, the next two old hags on broomsticks came in: one with ice hair the other with fire. Using a highly polished sword he sent the attacks away from himself and managed to get the witches really angry._

_"Time to get serious Koume," said the one._

_"Right Kotake," the other replied until they circled round and round revealing a giant, very attractive pigtailed woman. His sword broke and the woman managed to hit him with three iceblasts. The next thing he knew was darkness._

_Twinrova surveyed her victory but it was short lived: Light blasted through her heart and she dissolved into two dead witches. Azula, hand still extended from the act watched in shock as the pair didn't seem to realize they were dead._

_"What's that above your head, Koume?"_

_"You have it too Kotake!"_

_"I'm only 400 years old, I'm not ready yet!"_

_"I'm only 380!"_

_"Don't lie about your age in front of me, we're twins!" The squabbled as they vanished into a light. Once they were gone Azula, the normally calm, collected, sociopathic princess, collapsed._

**WARNING**: I proofread this myself, therefore there are bound to be mistakes I have missed.

Added later 12/30/11: I forgot to explain my asterixes

* Hong Se De Sang does actually mean Red Sand in Chinese (I looked it up via internet)

Pronunciation: Hoh-ng Seh Deh Sah-ng

** Yinghua is the word I found online that mean Cherry Blossom which is what "Sakura" means in Japanese

Pronunciation: Yeeng-hooah

*** Xuanwo is one of the words I found for maelstrom in Chinese

Pronunciation:Shu-ahn-woh

Added 1/24/12 Thanks to **SanDemonMax-Element 115** for the pronunciations for these Chinese words.

Keep in mind I fully acknowledge that online sites could be wrong.

12/31/11 Also, as I went back over the chapter again, and found more errors I missed I noticed I had "snuck" instead of "sneaked." "Sneaked" is actually the proper past tense of "to sneak" while where I'm from we say "snuck" so much that "sneaked" sounds wrong to me, whenever I know the latter to be correct.


	20. Chapter 17

_**Bolt out of the Blue**_

_**DISCLAIMER**_: I don't own anything. Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Viacom and Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. Anything else mentioned that is not general knowledge belongs to their respective copyright holders. I only own my computer and maybe parts of my plot, and my OCs.

**MP:** Hi folks! This is up a bit later than I thought it would be but life tends to get in the way. By the way, there are going to be Ozai deaths for each tale, so that's a total of 12 deaths for 12 tales.

** Now onto my review responses (or you can just start the chapter, your choice as always):**

**Ferdawg: **Why thank you again. Here's this much longer one**  
><strong>

**M:** I agree on Chung but as for the other well no offense but, ?

**Rising Solstice:** Sorry about seeming kind of blonde but the puppet thing is leaving scratching my head and saying "Oro?"

As for counterparts of the bijuu, a sort of yes and no kind of thing, and Kyuubi doesn't "like" anyone, he just tolerates them and has allies. Though, if he and his alternate were face to face, I'm sure fur would end up flying. And The ninjas have their tales too ^_^ I have actually be looking forwards to this chapter because of that.

Thanks for your compliments and about Naruto's acting: If he can fool the #1 Sasuke fangirl into think he (Naruto) was him (Sasuke) there would have to be some acting skills involved.

Sadly, I cannot kill Long Feng so if he goes up against Minato, it won't be a long fight because the coward knows when to run or to hide behind a bunch of loyal Dai Li or a rock wall. But he will get trounced, I promise you that should the two ever cross blades (so to speak).

**SanDemonMax-Element 115:** Thanks! I'll go back and change that because I was going off the internet (and well I think that says it all) and thank you for the compliment

**tykronos the devastator: **Wikipedia, font of all knowledge

**Chapter 17: Tales of Ba Sing Se**

Quote: This is the point - to speak n short and plain:

That each of you to shorten with our way

In this viage, shall tell n tal s tway

To Canterbury-ward, I mean it so,

And homeward he shall tell n other two

Of áventures that whilom have befall. _Host of the Inn_, Prologue Canterbury Tales, _Chaucer_

**MP**: Alright, the Tales on the show are six short stories about the main characters. That's all well and good. But, for obvious reasons, the Tale of Momo will have to be either cut or made different. Because of various personal preferences and the fact Appa's not missing, I made the decision to remove the Tale of Momo.

**_Twelve tales of Ba Sing Se_**

Twelve tales of Ba Sing Se

The Tale of Katara and Toph

The morning routine was taking place for the bender members of Team Avatar. Aang was shaving his head, Sokka his mustache, and Katara was doing her hair. Outside, the ninjas went through their stances while standing on a pool of nearby water. Katara connected her hair loops to her main braid and went into the shared sleeping area for the girls and saw Toph was still out of it on the ground, her hair a mess.

"Toph, aren't you going to get ready for the day?" Katara asked. The blind girl sat up before she spat, and made a direct score in the spittoon. She stood and dusted herself off a little before she said,

"I'm ready."

"Aren't you going to wash up, you've got a little dirt on your, well, everywhere actually," Katara said.

"You call it dirt, I call it a healthy coating of earth," Toph said. Katara stood deep in thought before she said,

"You know what we need? A girls' day out!"

"Do I have to?" Toph groaned.

"It'll be fun!" Katara insisted. Toph looked like she found that idea anything but fun.

Thus the girls, both dressed and hair pulled back in front of a building that had women, well dressed ones at that, coming out of it.

"That Fancy Ladies' Day Spa? Sounds like my kinda place," Toph said incredulously.

"Are you ready for some serious pampering?" Katara asked.

"Sure, Katara, whatever you say, as long as they don't touch my feet," Toph said.

"I still can't believe that Sakura and Hinata turned this down," Katara said as they entered the building.

Those wishes were blatantly ignored as they had to literally scrap off the earthbender's feet until she had a enough and sent the well-meaning pedicurist flying into a wall.

The next area was the mud room. Toph decided to have some fun with the woman who came in and made the mud on her face begin to move like it was alive. It got a shrill scream making both girls laugh.

After which came the sauna which both girls employed their bending to make things more comfortable.

With the Ninjas,

"Thing fast!" Naruto said as he tossed a balloon at Sakura who looked up in time to receive a face full of mud. Hinata giggled until Sakura flung some of the mud at her face too.

"NARUTO!" she yelled before she gave chase to the knuckled headed blonde. So the girls who had turned down the spa were also getting a mud treatment of a sort as well. Only this devolved into a mud fight.

With Toph and Katara,

They exited the spa with make-up applied to their faces.

"Well that wasn't so bad. I'm not actually into that sort of stuff, but I actually feel…_girly_," Toph said.

"I'm glad," Katara said, "It's about time we did something fun together." The pair crossed a bridge at about the same time as a trio of noblewomen (well noblegirls).

"Wow, great make-up," One said.

"Thanks," Toph replied.

"For a clown!" with that the trio tittered cruelly.

"Don't listen to them, let's just keep walking," Katara said comforting the younger girl as her hurt showed on her face.

"I think she looks cute, like that time we put a sweater on your pet poodlemonkey," the one girl with buns on her head said.

"Good one, Star," the third girl said. Toph looked down even more prompting Katara to mother the girl she said,

"Let's go, Toph."

"No, no. That _was_ a good one. Like your poodlemonkey, HAH! You know what else is a good one?" Toph said with the first bit sounding forced but the second sounded like barely contained laughter? Then the world's greatest earthbender used her skills to open up a hole beneath the girls sending them and their cruelty into the water. Toph continued on her way as Katara walked over to the hole and looked down at the girls with a satisfied smirk on her face,

"Now _that_ was funny," she said before she used waterbending to send them on a ride down the canal.

She caught up with Toph,

"Those girls don't know what they're talking about," Katara said.

"It's ok. One of the good things about being blind is I don't have to worry about how I look. I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I know who I am," Toph said with a couple of tears.

"That's what really admire about you, Toph. You're so strong, and confident, and self-assured. And I know it doesn't matter but you're really pretty," Katara said.

"I am?" Toph asked.

"You are," Katara said.

"I'd return the compliment, but I have no idea what you look like," Toph said earning a laugh from Katara.

The Tale of Gaara and Sakura

"Enjoy your day out!" Sakura said with false cheer to the others leaving her alone in their shared house. With everyone gone, the pinkette began to work on some chakra building exercises to help make her reserves larger.

"You can't hide your whole life," Gaara's voice said making her loose her concentration and fall in the middle of climbing the wall with chakra.

"It won't be my whole life, just the whole time I'm here," she said. Sakura tried to resume her exercises but a wall of sand stopped her.

"Lady Toph is right, I am the shrink," Gaara said as he made Sakura come with him to sit behind their house, "There are no Dai Li within a hundred feet of this house and no sign of any Joo Dee." A sand eyeball flew back to him and dissipated.

"How did you know I-," Sakura said.

"The fact you keep several people between you and Joo Dee at all times," Gaara said, "Naruto is convinced you think she's going to suck out your soul and that's also why he keeps his distance from her," Gaara said.

"She's what I nearly became," Sakura said, "I can't remember much but I remember in that place they were hypnotizing me and others with the same phrase, 'Hello, I am Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se,' and I can't remember the rest of it. They thought I'd been made into a drone from that and dyed my hair and talked about having me start my 'duties.'"

"But you managed your escape anyway," Gaara said, "You can't let this decide your life."

"But the men who had me looked like the Dai Li!" Sakura said.

"This has no bearing on your current situation," Gaara said, "If they want to avoid suspicion, they'll not make a move. If they did they'd tip their hands. This Long Feng the others told me about seems to think he's smarter than that. You can't live in fear. My father tried to have me assassinated after I turned six, multiple times. I killed all my assailants including me uncle Yashamaru. I let this nearly destroy me. Minato is the one who told me that those experiences don't have to be who I am, but help to shape who I am."

"How did Minato ever produce a son like Naruto?" Sakura said, "He's so wise sounding and so strong."

"Naruto's more like him than you'd think," Gaara said, "Now, I am going to see what is taking Lady Toph and Katara so long in returning. Want to join me?"

"Sure," Sakura said as she stood up. Gaara stood and followed her through the house.

"Oh and Gaaa?" Sakura said.

"Yes?" Gaara asked.

"Thanks," she said, "Oh and if you were to set up shop as a psychiatrist? I think you'd be very successful."

The Tale of Iroh

The older Fire Nation man strolled through the vendors in the Lower Ring until he reached the vendor he was looking for: The one selling baskets. Iroh homed in on a simple basket.

"If this is for a romantic picnic, might I suggest this lavender one," the basket vendor said as he indicated said basket.

"No, it's not a romantic picnic. But it is a special occasion," Iroh said before he walked away. He noticed the flower that wasn't open sitting on a box in the vendor's stall. He pushed it out of the direct sun as he said,

"The moon flower likes partial shade." With that the yellow blossom bloomed making both men smile. Iroh bowed to the vendore.

Later, he was an instrument vendor, he heard a boy cry. So Iroh grabbed a pipa and began to sing as he approached and knelt to be at eye level with the boy,

"Leaf from the vine, falling so slow, like fragile tiny shells drifting in the foam. Little Soldier boy, comes marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home." The boy stopped and then,

"YEOUCH!" yanked on Iroh's beard. The boy laughed before he and his mother left.

Iroh saw a couple of boys playing a game similar to what we would call soccer with earthbending. It was going well until, SMASH! It went through a window. The boys huddled behind Iroh who then said,

"It is usually best to admit mistakes when they occur and to seek to restore honor." But the man who appeared at the window was brute who said,

"When I'm through with you kids the window won't be the only thing that's broken!"

"But not this time. RUN!"

With that Iroh ran away too. He ran into an alley, dropped his basket and looked to see if the man had followed him.

"You! Give me all your money!" Iroh turned to see a man in raggy clothing holding a knife with a very bad stance.

"What are you doing?" Iroh asked the man.

"I'm mugging you!" the man said.

"With that stance?" Iroh said gesturing at the man's knees,

"What are you talking about? Just give me your money, old man!" the would-be-mugger said.

"With a poor stance you are unbalance and you can be easily knocked over," Iroh said and then demonstrated deftly, sending the man to the ground while simultaneously disarming him. The man looked bumed but Iroh offered him a hand up.

"With a solid stance, you are a much more serious threat," Iroh explained as he demonstrated a solid stance. The man imitated him. Iroh fixed his stance and said,

"Much better, but to tell you the truth, you do not look like the criminal type."

"I know, I'm just confused," The man said.

Iroh made the man some tea and lent a listening ear.

"So you really think I could be a good masseur?" the man asked.

"Of course!" Iroh said.

"This is so great, no one has ever believed in me," the man said.

"While it is always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great blessing," Iroh said.

The older man finally made his way to a tree on a hill outside the limits of the houses of the Lower Ring. He stacked a rock on a rock, placed a cloth down before placing some fruits. He pulled out a piece of paper and stared at it with a smile before he placed it beneath the tree. His last act was to light the two incense sticks and place them in the holder he'd gotten out. The picturing was an ink painting of a young man in Fire Nation garb, who had a similar face structure to Iroh.

"Happy Birthday, my son. If only I could have helped you," Iroh said, tears running down his face as he remembered.

"Leaf from the vine, falling so slow. Like little, tiny shells drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, comes marching home. Brave soldier boy, come marching home," Iroh sang, his sobbing making the next to last lyric break up a little and go even more off key.

The Tale of Aang,

The airbender flew over the lower ring and landed with a gust as he whirled his glider shut. He walked through the zoo and saw it was kind of sad looking in both its shape and its animals. Aang approached an armadillotiger knowing on its cage and said,

"Hey there boy, you look hungry." The animal snapped at Aang before curling up into a ball.

"They are hungry," The said zoo keeper said.

He gave Aang a tour,

"The Dai Li won't give me any money because the kids stopped coming. And the kids won't come because my zoo's nasty and broke," he explained. Aang looked over and saw a droppy long eared animal.

"What kind of animal is that?" he asked.

"Oh, that a rabiroo. I wish I could get her a nice open prairie like she likes and let her hop her way to happiness," the zoo keeper said. Aang smiled as an idea hit him.

"Let's do it!" he said.

"Say again?" the keeper asked.

"There's a big open space just outside the walls!" Aang said.

"But how are _you_ going to transfer all these wild critters?" the zoo keeper asked.

"Don't worry, I'm great with animals!" Aang said with a smile.

Famous last words.

They were rampant all through the Lower Ring. The rabiroo was chomping on the Cabage Merchant's cabbages.

"My Cabba-," he began before she looked at him and chomped another cabbage.

"Aw, forget it!" he said.

Aang tried to regain order but it was a lost cause.

"This was so much easier in my head," Aang said before he snapped his fingers. He pulled out his airbison whistle tossed it up before he gatherd a huge gust of air and blew. The sound went through the district and like Aang had hoped the animals heard and began to follow him.

Naruto had been minding his own business, looking for a kunai or even just a throwing knife vendor in the Lower Ring whenever he heard the sound of animals stampeding. He looked and saw Aang in the lead on an air scooter blowing the whistle with more strange animals that he'd ever seen since coming to this world following him. Like any sensible person he got the heck out of the way. He watched them pass at a high speed except what appeared to be a seal with a sea turtle shell on its back, but it was making as good a time as it could on dry land.

"But you have to open this gate!" the zoo keeper said to guards.

"Or what?" a guard asked.

"Or that!" the zoo keeper said pointing to Aang and his stampede.

"Open the gate!" the guard yelled before they dashed away. Aang got out of the way and flew over the wall as the animals continued their charge. He got a head of them and began to earthbend walls to keep the animals in before making separate enclosures finishing the new zoo. People walked out to see it, especially kids.

The rabiroo drank deeply from the water and looked up at Aang and the zoo keeper, three babies appearing over the edge of her pouch.

"So Mr. Zoo Keeper, how do you like your new facilities?" Aang asked.

"Excellent job, Avatar, you should think about working with animals for a living," the zoo keeper said. But it turned out, Aang's whistle worked a bit too well. Several house pets were in with the zoo animals, not to mention Appa and Momo lazing about in the middle of a different enclosure making the animals there unhappy.

"On second thought, maybe you should probably stick to saving people," the zoo keeper said.

The Tale of Sokka

The Water Tribe boy was walking through the Middle Ring in the Evening tossing his boomerang and catching it. He walked near a building with several lanterns in front of it. He walked through and alley where a man was struggling with his ostrichdonkey, and heard girls' voices,

"What's this?" he said as he peeked in and saw a beautiful girl reading something,

"Through all the long night,

winter moon glows with bright love,

sleet her silver tears."

"Poetry," Sooka sighed happily. Then the ostrichdonkey kicked Sokka in the behind sending him through the window. Startling the girls.

"I am so sorry,

Something struck me in the rear,

I just wound up here?" he said. The girls all laughed at him. From their dress, they were all girls from upper class families. Then the headmistress of the poetry academy got up,

"Five seven then five,

Syllables mark a haiku,

Remarkable oaf," she said as she bowed her head to Sokka and the girls laughed again. Sokka's eyebrow twitched.

"They call me Sokka,

That is, in the Water Tribe,

I am not an oaf," Sokka replied, counting syllables for the last line.

"Chittering monkey,

In the spring he climbs tree tops,

And thinks himself tall," the headmistress said earning an 'Ooooo,' from the girls.

"You think you're so smart,

with your fancy little words,

this is not so hard," Sokka replied cockily getting another 'Oooo.' In this poetry battle it was neck and neck.

"Whole seasons are spent,

Mastering the form, the style,

None calls it easy," she said.

"I calls it easy,

Like I paddle my canoe,

I'll paddle yours too!" Sokka said before he paddled his but at the now angry headmistress.

"There's nuts and there's fruits,

In fall the clean plum drops,

Always to be squashed," the headmistress said before she squished the plum she'd pulled from her sleeve.

"Squish squash, sling that slang,

I'm always right back at you,

Like my boomerang," Sokka said,

"That's right I'm Sokka,

It's pronounced with an Okka,

That's right ladies I rocked ya!" So close, but his last line had six syllables.

"That's one too many syllables there, bub!" said a tall burly man in a pink lined black outfit before he tossed Sokka out the door. The warrior sat up and leaned his face on his hand,

"Poetry," he sighed.

The Tale of Zuko

Zuko walked to the back of the small tea shop looking around before he approached his uncle.

"Uncle, we have a problem. One of the customers is on to us. Don't look now, but there's a girl at that table, she knows we're Fire Nation," Zuko said. Iroh looked over with a smile.

"Didn't I say, don't look!" Zuko hissed.

"You're right, I've seen that girl in here quite a lot. Seems to me that she's got quite the little crush on you," Iroh said.

"Thank you for the tea," the girl said making both jump, a little and turn to see her. She paid for her glass and said,

"So what's your name?"

"I'm Lee," Zuko said after a moment, "My Uncle and I just moved here."

"Hi Lee, my name's Jin," the girl said, "And well, I was wondering if you would want to go out sometime."

"He would love to," Iroh answered for a stunned Zuko.

"Great! I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown," Jin said with Iroh smiling broadly and Zuko still kind of stunned.

Zuko walked out with his hair slicked down in a kind of comical fashion as Jin rounded the corner.

"Hey, well, look at you! You look so cute!" Jin said as she messed up the hair.

"It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair," Zuko complained before Jin took him by the arm and led him to a restaurant.

"So, how do you like the city so far?" Jin asked.

"It's ok," Zuko replied as he played with his food.

"What do you like to do for fun?" Jin asked.

"Nothing," Zuko said.

"Say, would you and your girlfriend like to try out-," began the server.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Zuko yelled making everyone look at him and Jin. Jin took a huge a slurp of noodles.

"You…have a big appetite for a girl," Zuko said awkwardly.

"Thanks I guess. So where were you and your uncle living before?" Jin asked.

'I was hunting down the Avatar to regain my honor and living on a ship I commanded before it was blown up by pirates and I had to go on the run from my psychotic sister,' Zuko somehow knew that was NOT the thing to say so he went for partial truth.

"We've been traveling around for a long time," he said.

"Why were you moving around so much?" Jin asked.

"We were, uh, part of this traveling circus," Zuko said.

"Really? What did you do? Wait, let me guess, you juggled!" Jin said.

"Yes, I juggled," Zuko said, 'there's no way she'll-,'

"I've always wanted to learn how to juggle, can you show me something!" she said and picked up stuff from their table, 'Ok she does want me to try to juggle.' Zuko took the stuff and just tossed it in the air, and not surprisingly it crashed all over him,

"I haven't practiced for a while," Zuko said as an excuse.

"It's alright. Hey, I want to show you my favorite place in the city," Jin said as they got up.

"It's the Firelight Fountain. The light reflect and make the water sparkle in the most beautiful way," Jin said as she dragged Zuko through dark alleys only to find the fountain was dark.

"I can't believe it! They aren't lit!" she said disappointed. Zuko saw the look on her face and came to a decision,

"Close your eyes and don't peak," Zuko said. Once he was sure Jin couldn't see him he looked around before he used bending to light all the lanterns quickly.

"Ok, now you can look," he said once he'd lit every lantern.

"Oh Wow!" Jin said, "What happened! How did they light! What did you-," she trailed off when she saw him smiling. Jin grabbed his hand and tried to kiss him but Zuko whipped out a piece of paper and held it between her face and his.

"I brought you something, it's a couple for a free cup of tea," Zuko said quickly.

"Lee, you are so sweet," Jin said accepting the coupon.

"Don't thank me, it was my uncle's idea, he thinks you're our most valuable customer," Zuko said, as she stood awkwardly away from Jin.

"Your uncle is a good teacher. I have something for you too. Now it's your turn to close your eyes," Jin said. With that Zuko complied and Jin kissed him. Zuko kissed back before he broke away and turned from Jin.

"What's wrong?" Jin asked.

"It's complicated," Zuko said, "I have to go." With that he left the girl alone at the fountain.

Iroh was waiting for Zuko but tried to make it look like he wasn't whenever he saw Zuko coming and pretended to tend to his bonsai trees.

"How was your night, Prince Zuko?" Iroh said. Zuko went to his room and slammed the door shut. Minutes later he opened and said,

"It was nice," before he gently closed the door.

The Tale of Hinata

Hinata left Sakura and Gaara in the house as she left to go to the middle ring. In her hands were everyone's forehead protectors. The cloth holding them on had been fraying. So she decided to do something about it. She walked into a textile shop in the Middle Ring and began browsing.

"Looking for anything in particular?" the shop lady asked.

"I need cloth to mount these on," Hinata said as she held up the forehead protectors.

"Interesting: Any particular function?" asked the woman.

"Well one will be worn like a head band, two like sweatbands, one like a necklace and one the tie on an arm or attach to a strap," Hinata said.

"Well, I think I can manage that," the woman said taking the forehead protectors, "I have several cloth and ribbon samples for you to choose from. Go and select your colors and I'll begin work on these." Hinata nodded before she walked and grabbed blue ribbon, green ribbon, orange cloth, dark green cloth, and dark maroon cloth. She pointed to each forehead protector and which cloth they belonged on.

"They're identical," the woman remarked as Hinata pointed.

"To you, but to each they are theirs," Hinata said. The woman got to work and soon had them finished.

Hinata tied hers around her neck and picked up the others.

"Thank you ma'am," Hinata said as she paid for the alterations.

"You're welcome," the shop lady said as Hinata left. She stopped by the house and dropped off the finished forehead protectors, noticing Gaara and Sakura were not there. She shrugged and began looking for Naruto, with his forehead protector in hand.

She found him in a noodle shop in the Lower Ring.

"Hey Hinata!" He said loudly waving at her.

"Hi, Naruto," Hinata said as she looked down at the ground before she walked over to him.

"Here," she said holding out his forehead protector: it was now on the orange cloth she'd picked out.

"Awesome!" Naruto said as he tied it on. Before the shy heiress could respond Naruto hugged her.

"Thanks Hinata!" he said.

"Y-Your welcome, Naruto," Hinata said.

"So want to join me?" Naruto asked.

"Sure!" Hinata said, her voice coming out as a higher pitch. She sat down as Naruto waved over the waiter.

"Some noodles for her too," Naruto said.

"Of course!" The waiter said.

"They love me here already," Naruto said sheepishly pointing to the pile of empty bowls, "They're almost as good as Ichiraku's."

"Really?" Hinata said as her bowl of noodles arrived and Naruto's seventh helping.

"Thank you," Hinata said to the server before she smiled over at the blonde and dug in.

The Tale of Sasuke

The Last Uchiha was wandering through the Lower Ring going from weapon vendor to weapon vendor. What he needed were kunai and shuriken. What he got was mistrusting stares and people muttering "Avatar's Pet Fire Freak," behind his back. This seemed familiar to him, but it wasn't him who'd received these reactions before.

'Was this what it was like for Naruto all the time?' Sasuke wondered as he finally placed it. He found himself in front of a small establishment that he identified as a teahouse by the smell. Deciding to have a cup of tea, Sasuke entered the shop and took a seat in the corner. He heard the whispers start,

"It's that pet firebender of the Avatar's! I hear he killed his family and that's why he joined the Avatar!"

"No I hear that he's Zhong-Zhong's apprentice!"

"I heard that he's the only good firesnake there is. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"I can't believe he thinks he's good enough to be with us regular folk."

"You look very troubled," an older man's voice said. Sasuke looked up to see an older man in an apron standing by him with a cup of steaming tea in hand being offered to him.

"Thank you," Sasuke said.

"So they say you're from the Fire Nation," the man said conversationally.

"They say," Sasuke said before he drank his tea. The man sat down with the Avenger,

"Are you?" the old man asked.

"No. I'm from a place called Konoha," Sasukes said, "We don't just have one element there."

"So you aren't the only person from there. Must be nice to travel with friends," the man said.

"They're not really friends, they're comrades in arms. I have no need of friends, I only need to, to kill That Man," Sasuke said, "What did you put in my tea, old man?"

"Nothing! People just find me very pleasant to talk to," the man said with a grin, "Come with me. You remind me of another young man I know who is lost." Against his better judgment, and because there was something familiar he just couldn't place yet, Sasuke followed the older man, reasonably sure he could take anything the old man dished out. The older man led him into a deserted alley and bid the Uchiha to sit on the ground with him.

"Here we are safe for eavesdroppers," the man said. Sasuke looked around and saw/sensed no Dai Li.

"Why are you helping me?" Sasuke asked.

"Because, I can tell you are lost," the man said holding up a placating hand.

"How could you help?" Sasuke said annoyed.

"I can lend an ear and I can listen," the man said, "First what is your name?"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said.

"Nice to meet you, I am called Mushi," the man said, "So why do you want to kill this man?"

"That Man murdered my whole family, and made me watch him do it," Sasuke said, "He told me to come find him one day when I was strong enough."

"That's truly terrible!" Mushi said, "But I do not think revenge should be your only focus. Soon it turns to obsession and then your life is nothing but revenge and you'll end up with the blood of innocents on your hands."

"You sound like a friend of mine," Sasuke said before he could correct himself.

"So you do have a friend or two," Mushi said with a smile, "Any girl friends?" he asked waggling his eyebrows up and down.

"I have four friends who are girls," Sasuke said.

"So you have at least five friends then," Mushi said, "Anything else this wise friend tell you to do?"

"He told me that I didn't get that my past wasn't as traumatic as I kept making it out to be. And compared to Aang, Naruto, and him, it isn't. Naruto told me that I internalized my hatred for my br-for That Man instead of actually getting stronger," Sasuke said.

"It sounds like both of them are right. If you really want my advice? Learn to accept help. Learn to forget, learn to live. Otherwise, once you kill him, you really won't have anything left," Mushi said as he got up. Sasuke stood,

"I'll never forget or forgive him," Sasuke said.

"Then learn to accept help. It's not weakness to ask for help. It is in fact strength to admit you need help," Mushi said before he turned to leave. Sasuke dug in his pouch and pulled out four gold coins.

"For the tea and the advice," Sasuke said before he left.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

The Tale of Jiraiya and Sai

"AND STAY OUT!" a woman's voice roared. Jiraiya rubbed his butt as he got up. The baths in the Lower Ring were more open and therefore easier to peek on, but that also meant there were more female earthbenders there abouts who were willing to use their considerable skills to send him flying. He'd been allowed out of the Underground, on the condition he, Tsunade, and Minato search for information on Dai Li activity.

"Why did you try that, Pervert?" asked Sai.

"It was valuable research," Jiraiya said as he looked over at the ROOT member. The boy had no emotions so his question hadn't been asked out of irritation, just analysis of the situation.

"You were tossed from three similar establishments. As from seeing naked women what information did you hope to gather?" Sai asked as he pulled out his scrolls and began to doodle. Jiraiya opened his mouth whenever he noticed men in robes following them.

'Perfect,' he thought. He looked over at Sai and saw the ROOT agent noticed them as well.

It was over before it began. Sai's skills were undenabile but there was a reason Jiraiya and his team had been called "The Legendary Three." Even without most of his elemental justu, Jiraiya was still a forced to be reckoned with.

"Let's get back to the Underground," Jiraiya said as he grabbed one of the Dai Li, Sai's ink drawings had the others captured. Both shunshined away.

The Tale of Tsunade

The Godaime walked through the Lower Ring without a disguise on. Why? Because the Legendary Sucker knew a woman like her would stick out like a sore thumb. But she would let them get close after she took care of something else. She found someone who sold something similar to sake and took a swig of it just to make sure. Ok, maybe drank half the jug and bought a second. The busty blonde found her way to a nice spot outside the city and toasted the sky before she drank the rest of the first sake bottle before she wheeled around and bashed the second on the head of the first Dai Li agent after her, before she flicked the others away with her pinky. Even then she wasn't sure of their survival. She picked up the sake soaked Dai Li and dropped him by a wall, making his body sprawl on the ground while she gathered up one or two of his unconscious fellows, who were still nearby and breathing. She then pulled out a third bottle she'd bought on impulse right before she left the stand and took a drink as she walked.

All in all, it hadn't been a bad day for the gambler. That's what worried her.

The Tale of Naruto

Naruto knew it was going to be an eventful day. After all, Katara had gotten Toph to do something girly and Gaara had gotten Sakura out of the house.

The blonde, like the Uchiha, was looking for weapons in the Lower Ring whenever he'd nearly been run over by Aang's animal stampede but it was doding that stampede that he'd found his number two noodle place. And now he was sharing noodles with Hinata who had taken their frayed forehead protectors to get new cloth backings, and had chosen orange for him, which the blonde found to be absolutely awesome. They stayed at the noodle stand so long it got dark, but lanterns and decorations were up everywhere.

"Excuse me, sir, what's going on?" Hinata asked the server.

"It's the Spring Festival," he said with a smile. Naruto nodded and paid for the noodles before he dragged her out into the streets.

"Wanna come with me? I've never really been to a festival before. I mean I went to a Fire festival with Aang, but we had to leave really quick because the firebenders were after us," Naruto said.

"Sure!" Hinata said. Naruto mentally shook his head at the squeak,

'She must not have had enough to drink today, her voice sure is squeaky,' Naruto thought as they walked through the festival.

"Hey Naruto! Hinata!" said Sokka's voice. The pair turned to see the Water Tribe boy there.

"What're you doing here?" Naruto asked Sokka.

"I was just looking when I saw this festival. This is much more fun than that other one, am I right or am I right?" Sokka said. Naruto and Hinata just blinked at him blankly.

"Ok, let's just have fun with it!" Sokka said as he grabbed both Hinata and Nartuo and dragged them further into the crowds. They got separated and Naruto ended up dancing with an older woman with short blonde hair wearing a white head band and a white dress. Her eyes were blue and she was looking at him funnily.

"So, where you from she asked.

"Konoha," Naruto said.

"Far away?" the woman asked.

"Yep!" Naruto replied, "I'm Naruto."

"I'm Feng," the woman replied.

"Nice to meet you," Naruto said. Hinata tapped on Feng's shoulder and cut in.

"Meet anyone interesting?" Hinata asked.

"She said her name was Feng," Naruto said.

"I met a boy who called himself Shan," Hinata replied, "But he looked an awful lot like Gaara."

"Weird," Naruto said, "So dancing isn't hard."

"Not this kind. There's a kind Father made me learn that's horribly complex," Hinata said.

"Oh," Naruto said, "You any good at it?"

"Yes. It was one of the few things Father praised me for," Hinata admitted.

"Then your father's stupid, you're awesome!" Naruto said.

"Thanks," Hinata said blushing.

Then it happened. A man bumped into Naruto sending him forwards and a woman bumped into Hinata sending her forwards and their lips locked. They stayed that way for a good ten seconds before they broke apart blushing.

"We'd better get back," Naruto said, extremely red in the face, he looked over at Hinata and saw her starting to wobble.

"HINATA!" Naruto said startling her back to alertness. Her face so red it was nearly glowing.

"Y-yes," she said before they left the festival. They unconsciously began to hold hands once they were far enough away.

The Tale of Minato

Minato had been grilled by the four Grandmasters for several minutes for not telling them sooner he wasn't of their world but he pointed out that A, had he told them 13 years ago they'd have never accepted his help because B, they'd have called him a loony.

"We know that you desire to go after your offspring but you also know there is nothing the Dai Li would love more than to capture you and try to get you to turn on us," Fengdao said, "So we are requesting you stay here and not risk it. Or, if you do go above ground it is to spy on the Dai Li without them knowing it. I'll go check up on your son if you would like, I know of ways of not getting caught by the Dai Li."

"I'll go with her!" Shanshi said eagerly. Minato nodded. It was still so strange to see this Not-Gaara (with eyebrows and no eye rings) and his female counterpart. Before, he'd only worked with Xia Ling to coordinate missions for the underground Shadow Warriors. Mostly because of the four Grandmasters, Xia Ling was the least memorable and least to draw suspicion.

"Where do you want me to go?" Minato asked.

"Upper Ring, try to get feelers out for what Long Feng is planning and what he means to attempt about us," Fengdao said.

"Should I be spotted, am I allowed to defend myself?" Minato asked.

"With extreme prejudice if you wish, just leave some of Ba Sing Se standing, would you?" Fengdao said, "Also you'll be mentoring my son on this, Feng Xuanwo. He needs to learn that Shadow Warrior means being as unnoticeable as shadows, not being a big flashy thing that casts those shadows. Feng-wo!"

Minato nearly cried when he saw what could have been a seven year old Naruto with a red-arrow on his forehead walk over to him.

"He's rather young," Minato said.

"And he's rather valuable to me," Fengdao said, "Feng-Wo this is Minato Namikaze known as Yellow Flash. Minato this is my son Feng Xuanwo keeper of the might of the Mighty Wind Spirit. You can call him Feng-Wo for short."

"Wind Spirit?" Minato asked.

"Yes, in our world we have our realm and the Spirit Realm, as I'm sure it's been explained, and for each element there is a guardian spirit, or two if you're the Water Tribe: Tui and La for Water, Agni for Fire, Enkimdu for Earth, and Fujin for Air. The earthbenders have forgotten Enkimdu and he has forgotten them in return, and we non-monks still honor Fujin. So on the day Feng-Wo was born Fujin appeared and gave him his blessing, so Feng-Wo is now the youngest among us to receive his first arrow," Fengdao said ruffling the younger blonde's hair as Not-Naruto said,

"Mo-om! Can we go now?"

"Ok but remember, we are not to do anything to get noticed," Minato said crouching to eye level with this boy.

"Ok!" the boy said.

"This is the opposite of not getting noticed!" Minato yelled as he and Feng-Wo ran for their lives from both Dai Li and soldiers.

It had started off well enough. Both had "borrowed" common Earth Kingdom styled hats to cover their hair and a strip of cloth to cover Feng-Wo's arrow, so they then slipped into the Upper Ring.

"So, how large a stick do they have to shove up their asses to be allowed to live here?" Feng-Wo asked Minato.

"Probably as long as you are tall," Minato said as he caught disproving looks from some of the nobles. They saw a young woman with a blue ribbon around her throat wearing Water Tribe dress with mid-length black hair let to hang loose. It was her eyes that gave her away along with the fact it was a Konoha Forehead protector metal plate mounted on that ribbon.

'So that's the Hyuuga with the Avatar. She looks a lot like her cousin, who has something up his ass,' Minato thought as he made Feng-Wo keep moving.

"She looks like Xia Ling's second in command's daughter!" Feng-Wo said once they were far enough away, "Only she's a lot prettier. Does she still have cooties?"

"No," Minato said, "After you become full warriors, or get past 13, cooties go away."

"Oh, ok!" Feng-Wo said before the seven year old began skipping like a child of his age, which was actually better for their disguise.

It was then that the child bumped right into a Dai Li operative.

"Restrain that child," the Dai Li said.

"Take that stick out of your ass first!" Feng-Wo said.

That was how Minato and Fengo-Wo found themselves running for their live from the Dai Li. Minato and Feng-Wo were a bit ahead by Minato using one of his special Kunai (which he would latter retrieve). He scooped up the squirming shadow-warrior-in-training and focused on a kunai he'd left back in the hideout. The arrived and Fengdao looked at her son with an expression that said mother was NOT pleased and had found out what had happened

"You can go do what you wish, Minato, I have a son to discipline," Fengdao said.

"I'll be right back, Minato said as he flashed away and then returned with an unconscious Dai Li and one of his special kunai in hand. He wasn't the only one, every other Konoha ninja had a Dai Li agent or two (or three in Sai's case).

"Get them to Huo Long's interrogators," Fengdao ordered. Minato shrugged and handed his Dai Li agent off to Tsunade who grumbled at him.

"I'll buy more of that," Minato said pointing to her nearly empty jug.

"Make it three and we have a deal," Tsunade said.

"Three it is," Minato said.

"Need to blow off some steam?" Shanshi asked appearing like a proper shadow behind Fengdao.

"Sure, hey Hong! Get your butt over here!" Fengdao yelled. Minato was only slightly surprised by the appearance of a male Kushina who looked down at the squirming Feng-Wo.

"He blew it again?" Hong said.

"So badly there aren't words," Fengdao said.

"Well, that means more training!" Hong said loudly before he grabbed his son and dragged him away.

"Who does Hong remind you of?" Fengdao asked.

"My late wife," Minato said.

"Loud as an earthquake and didn't give a damn if they were?" Fengdao said.

"Yep," Minato agreed.

"You wouldn't happened to have been that pervert's apprentice, would you?" asked Fengdao.

"Unfortunately," Minato said.

"What are the odds," Fengdao said before Shanshi reappeared with casual civilian clothes.

"Well we're off to the festival and to spy on your kid!" Fengdao said with a smile, first genuine one Minato had seen from the hardened warrior.

'I'll never get used to that,' Minato thought as he saw his smile on her face. He had some alcohol to buy before also secretly spying on his kid.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Constructive Criticism is welcome as a way to help improve what you see. Flames, on the other hand are noting but ways to vent displeasure without telling someone why what you've read displeases you so.

And now, the accompanying _Deaths of Ozai_

Death 1

Ozai's Death at the hands of: **_Voldemort_**

_"How dare you come in here!" Ozai yelled. The snake like man wearing black robes was unruffled._

_"Foolish muggle, if you had surrendered, I would have made your death painless," the man said, "But now, you will suffer before I finally grant you your death. CRUCIO!"_

_Ozai felt like a thousands white hot swords had been stabbed into him, he was losing his grip on time when it finally stopped._

_"And now, you die AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

_Voldemort looked at the corpse that had once been the so called 'Fire Lord' and sneered before he swept out of the room, searching for other foolish muggles to exterminate._

__Death 2

Ozai's death at the hands of: _**The Emperor (Star Wars)**_

"You should have joined me," the old man said as he loomed over the twitching Ozai, "Now you will die!"

Ozai had the battle flash before his eyes:

_The doors of his throne room were flung open by an invisible force the source seemed to a hunched old man wearing a black robe with a horribly disfigured face and yellow eyes._

_"I have come to make you a deal. I shall help make you the ruler of this planet. All you would have to do is swear allegiance to me," the old man said._

_"How dare you barge into my throne room! Guards!" Ozai yelled._

_"They are being taken care of by my apprentice," the man said. Ozai grew angry and threw lightning at the old man, only to have him use a discharge of his own to counter. Then the blue arcs reached Ozai. The ruler could take pain, however this was worse than anything he had ever faced before, so he was a screwing wreck lying on the floor writhing in pain.  
><em>

A final burst of blue lightning and the Fire Lord could take no more and his body gave out under the stress.

"My master, I have taken care of the guards," came the rumbling bass voice of Papatine's enforcer.

"Good, Lord Vader. Signal the troops to start landing," Palpatine said as he took a seat on Ozai's throne.

Death 3

Ozai's death at the hands of: **_Master Xehanort (from Kingdom Hearts)_**

"Such darkness in you, come with me and learn the ways of the keyblade so that with your dark and Eraqus's light the X-blade can be formed!" the creepy pointy eared old man said to Ozai.

"Never will I serve the likes of you," Ozai said as he threw lightning at the man. A monster made of darkness protected the man before a strange monstrous key like sword appeared in the man's hands.

"A foolish mistake. The last, I'm afraid, that you will ever make," the man said before he began his assault. Ozai was losing. The man not only could wield lightning too, but was able to use that weapon and strange dark things to block Ozai's attacks. He also moved far more nimbly than Ozai would have expected. The blade finally connected and Ozai let out a gurgling sound before the man moved his blade away.

"If I did not have other pressing engagements, I would see what happens to you as you disolve into darkness," were the last words Ozai heard.

Xehanort opened a Dark Corridor to exit with sparing no glance back at the man he had destroyed. The X-blade wasn't going to forge itself, after all.

Death 4

Ozai's death at the hands (well tentacle-y-metal things) of: **Pretender Alice (From Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)**

"Surely there is something I could do for you," the beautiful courtesan said as she slinked over to Ozai.

"Please remove yourself from my presence," Ozai said. The woman leaned in before something stabbed Ozai in the back. He then noticed it was what looked like a silver tail that came from the woman!

"Give me the All Spark!" she shrieked as she became a monster with tentacles coming from a metal skull like head with glowing blue eyes and a hole in her strange metallic torso that emitted blue light. Her hands had only four strange claw like digits. Ozai bent lightning as best he could, and it stopped her but he electrocuted himself, forgetting about her tail in his back. Ozai had just died.

The pretender was able to withstand that blast but not the next several that hit her once she was free of the useless human's corpse. She exploded from the strain and Azula stood there panting before she let out a psychotic scream.

Death 5

Ozai's Death at the hands of: **Queen Gohma (From Ocarina of Time)**

Ozai heard scuttling sounds and looked up to see the largest, ugliest spider he had ever laid his eyes on. The strange behemoth had a single eye in it's face. It was looking at him, predatorially. He began throwing fire at the creature only to have it dodge more nimbly than a creature that size should be able to and it began to make minatures of itself, forcing him to destroy those. He lost track of her and that was his down fall.

Queen Gohma bit Ozai in half and was about to make more children for her to feed him too whenever several arrows thudded into her eye. Yanyuan Archers had finally arrived along with Azula, who finished the spider off.

Death 6

Ozai's death at the hands (paws) of: **The Rabbit (From Monty Python and the Holy Grail)**

Ozai looked up from a report and saw a white rabbit was in his throne room and his guards laid in pieces around it.

"Shoo!" he said before he went back to his reading. He looked up again and saw it was closer to him. He stood up and made to burn it to a crisp when it ATTACKED!

All that was left were scattered Ozai pieces and he flame hair piece.

Death 7

Ozai's Death at the hands (jaws) of: **The Land Shark (from SNL)**

"Curry delivery!" a voice said.

"I didn't order any curry!" Ozai said.

"Come get your fire flakes!" the voice said after a moment.

"I didn't order that either," Ozai said.

"I have the Avatar, gagged and bound," the voice said again. Ozai walked over to the doors of the throne room. He opened the door only to be gobbled up without enough time to blink by a walking shark.

Death 8

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Indiana Jones**

The scruffy looking man had irritated the ruler for the last time. Ozai raised his hands to bend lightning whenever BANG!

Indiana holstered his gun after the tyrant had been felled by one bullet.

Death 9

Ozai's death at the hands of: **The Moon (Majora's Mask)**

The Fire Lord had been hearing gibberish accounts of the moon suddenly looking evil and getting too close to the ground. He ignored those rumors, as he had the apparent death of the moon temporarily during the failed Invasion of the Northern Water Tribe. After dealing with paperwork he took a stroll outside near dawn three days after the reports had come in only to see the moon crashing down. It was the last thing he saw.

Death 10

Ozai's death at the hands of: **The Human Parasite (from Superman: Secret Origins)**

"You smell good!" Ozai looked up to see a strange purple creature with purple drool coming from it's round, strange spike like teeth filled mouth. Ozai threw flames at it only to the creature say,

"More! MORE!" It ignored the repeated flames, and the burns, until it grabbed Ozai with it's huge arms and bit down. Ozai could literally feel the life being drained from him, and there was nothing he could do.

The parasite dropped Ozai and made to move but stopped before it's head fell off its shoulders. Standing with a blade stained with purple blood was Zuko, who had come to confront his father only to find something had done the Avatar's job for him, and destroyed the monster before it could kill anyone else

Death 11

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Evil Bakura (Yugioh)**

Ozai had caught the argent haired youth, dressed rather strangely, on his way out after having burglarized the royal treasury. The Fire Lord was not amused. In fact he was going to kill the youth.

"Any last words before I end you?" Ozai asked.

"Only this: Dinner time!" with that the youth held up a card and a giant bug appeared and that was the last thing he ever saw.

Bakura laughed as the Man-eater bug gorged itself on Ozai. He hadn't fed the poor thing in a few days, after all.

Death 12

Ozai's death at the hands (jaws) of: **Tic-Tock Croc (Peter Pan)**

Ozai heard a ticking sound and yelled at his guards to stop making distracting noises while he was attempting to get laws read. Screams were heard and this made the dictator rise from his flaming throne and investigate. He opened the door and there was a giant green creature that looked sort of like a Catfishgator from the Swamp of the Earth Kingdom. He shot lightning at it only to have the creature dodge. He heard a crowing like sound and was distracted enough by that for the creature to strike.

Peter Pan and his nemesis, Captain Hook were fighting and the battle led them to an island somewhere beyond Never Neverland but not back at London. Following them, as always, was the Tic-Tock Croc, hungrily waiting for Hook to make a mistake so he could get the rest of him. As Peter flew over the structure Hook had tried to hide in, he let out a crow.

"CURSE YOU PETER PAN!" Hook said as he ran out of the building (as Peter knew he would). Then the croc showed up and began chasing the captain. Peter noticed it looked very full and wasn't giving as good chase as usual. The eternal child shrugged and continued to fly around.

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><p><strong>WARNING<strong>: I proofed this myself so there are bound to be mistakes I have missed.


	21. Chapter 18

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**DISCLAIMER**: I own nothing

MP: Sorry for this being late! I need to stop procrastinating -_-

Oh BTW This chapter features an Ozai Death I didn't write. My friend Makenzie Rush wrote it because she knew the character requested better than I did (and I asked her to).

So Review Responses and then the chapter!

**georgester101**: Doable, but I'll have to brush back up on my Bleach knowledge. I kinda got out of it whenever the winter war dragged on FOREVER.

**RisingSolstice**: Tsunade took Shizune's place on the retrieval team because she didn't want Shizune going. Easy to miss. As for Long Feng, I did something suitably sadistic to him. But there was no way to justify the other ninjas to be there. So it won't be any of them, yet. Cross Roads of Destiny, on the other hand...

As for the manga, I've been keeping up and there were somethings I liked and others I facepalmed at concerning the names of things... -_- Hope you enjoy this chapter

**General**: Please review, I need to know if you like what you see or if you want me to fix something, or just something encouraging. I need to feed my ego, or it'll try to eat me

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><p><strong>Chapter 18: Lake Laogai<strong>

Quote: _The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.- Eric Hoffer _

"Operative Flamigo was last seen at noon today exiting the house by Snoozles."

"Hey! Why am I Snoozles and who the heck is 'Flamingo?' Is that even a word?"

"You're Snoozles, Snoozles, because you were asleep when we were picking codenames even after Onagi tried to wake you up."

"Badgermole is correct, and to answer your question, Flamingo is a word, and the same reason we picked it for her. You know, our only missing friend."

"Why are we using codenames in the first place!"

"Because, Raccoon suggested it, and it's fun!"

"I agree with Skybison!"

"You would, Fox."

"No one asked, you Raven."

"ENOUGH!"

"Sorry Snow Leopard."

The scene was this: Team Avatar, minus Sakura, was sitting in a circle in their living quarters. Gaara was the focus of the circle, Naruto sat to his right, Hinata to his, Sasuke to hers, Toph to his, Sokka to hers, Katara to his, and Aang to hers ending up on Gaara's left.

"But even my baby sister has a cooler name," Sokka AKA Snoozles whined.

"Well, you should have gotten up when I woke you the first time," Katara AKA Onagi said.

"Can we get back to business, please?" Aang AKA Skybison said.

"Fine," Sokka said, "Still, why do we really have codenames?"

"It's in case we need to gather intel and don't want the Dai Li knowing who is who," Sasuke AKA Raven said.

"It also throws them off of who might be who," Hinata AKA Snow Leopard said.

"Back to the task at hand," Gaara AKA Raccoon said, "Because we know Snoozles saw her at noon today, that means Flamingo either vanished after reaching her intended destination, the spa in the Middle Ring, or she never made it there. It's been five hours, and in Ba Sing Se, that's possibly enough time to hide someone without traces and intimidate witnesses."

"So what?" Naruto AKA Fox said.

"Now we search based on our specialties. Snow Leopard, go with Snoozles and investigate her path to her intended target. Raven, you and Badgermole go interrogate the attendants at the spa. Skybison, you and Fox search all of the Upper and Middle Rings before starting on the Lower Ring, for any sign of her in those rings. Use stealth and multiple clones if need be. I'll be searching the Lower Ring myself with Onagi for any signs of her," Gaara said, "Any questions, or is the mission clear?"

"What is this a D rank?" Naruto said.

"It would be closer to a B rank," Gaara replied.

"What are those!" Sokka asked.

"When we accept assignments, they're given ranks," Sasuke said.

"D ranks are lowest, S ranks are highest," Hinata added.

"Let's go while there's still daylight!" Naruto said eagerly.

"I doubt we'll get much done, though. Ba Sing Se is a big place," Katara said.

"Well, at least we can get started," Aang said.

"There's one more thing we should do," Hinata said with a small smile.

"When did you get these?" Sokka asked looking at the black outfits the others were clad in.

"We all were bored one day so, Me and H-Snow Leopard were strolling about and found these being sold," Naruto said as he patted his ANBU esque outfit, "They even had masks on sale!" Naruto pulled on his fox mask.

"How is that stealthy?" Sokka asked.

"Naruto could lose ANBU, our elite guards wearing bright orange, he can be stealthy in that too," Sasuke deadpanned as he tied on a raven mask.

"So is that where the code names really came from?" Sokka asked as he picked up his mask, which was a distorted face.

"Not exactly," Toph said, "I was able to bend the masks into different shapes, Gaara too." She pulled on her mask as Katara pulled on her mask. Aang's was on his face the instant after hers and everyone was soon mask clad except Sokka.

"But people are going to react funnily to us like this!" Sokka said.

"You guys won't be wearing this stuff in broad daylight," Sasuke said.

"But you guys will!" Sokka said.

"But they won't know we're there," Gaara said, "Once we discover Flamingo's location, we'll formulate a plan and go after her. That is, if we even need to."

"So we'll wear our super cool gear then," Sokka said as the outfits grew on him.

"Yes," Sasuke said. And so the pairs split off, Sokka, back in his Watertribe garb followed in the shadows by Hinata in her mock-ANBU outfit, Aang taking to sky, and Naruto as well: a henged clone on the glider while a bunch of Naruto as Fox scattered about on foot, Gaara stealthily following Katara and Sasuke going as himself with Toph, who was fairly adept at fading into the background in her usual garb. Also scatted among the chaos were two clones henged as Hinata and Gaara who were seen with Sokka openly to throw the Dai Li off.

Before talking with the others of Team Avatar, the Ninjas had already picked a main suspect in Sakura's disappearance: Long Feng. Though, they distrusted the Dai Li on principle: no need for them to know exactly what the ninjas could do.

It was a bust, to a degree. Sakura had made it to the spa, and there were no signs of foul play on her most likely routes, no signs of recent earthbending were detectable to Hinata's eyes, Sasuke and Toph couldn't detect any lying from the staff, Aang and Naruto didn't find a single trace of pink hair in the crowds (or in any shops), and Gaara and Katara didn't either. It got dark and they had to stop and continue the next day.

They were about to set off when there was a knocking at the door. The ninja, in their gear, hid this fact by performing henges into their regular clothes. Aang opened the door to reveal Joo Dee, and not the woman claiming to be Joo Dee but the original Joo Dee.

"Hello Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Gaara and Hinata and Sasuke and Naruto," Joo Dee said. Naruto had the whole group between him and Joo Dee.

"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked.

'Moron,' Sasuke thought.

"What? Jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage," Joo Dee said dismissively, even waving a hand.

"Define cultural heritage," Naruto asked. Joo Dee kept smiling

"But you disappeared after the Earth King's party," Toph pointed out.

"Oh, I simply took a short vaction to Lake Laogai out in the country, it was quite relaxing," Joo Dee said patronizingly, which had Naruto wanting to explode again. He went to speak but a sand hand muzzled him.

"But they replaced you with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee," Katara said.

"I'm Joo Dee," Joo Dee said vapidly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Ba Sing Se, Lower Ring,

Zuko was unimpressed by the fact a wealthy man had just offered his Uncle a teashop of his own. Instead he looked up at the sky and caught a glimpse of something that made his good eye widen. He climbed onto the roof for a better look and saw it was the Avatar and his blond friend in the air. Something made Zuko look at the shadows and if he hadn't been trained as he had, he would have missed the multiple people in black with blonde hair and a fox mask going unnoticed by people below.

"Why are you here?" Aang asked getting to the point.

"Going around interrogating people is against the rules in Ba Sing Se," Joo Dee explained oh-so-pleasantly. IT was a good thing Gaara had already gagged Naruto because the muffled words he tried to say wouldn't have dome anyone any favors. But Gaara hadn't thought to muzzle Aang.

"We don't care about your rules! We're going to continue looking for our friend and you'd better just stay out of our way!" the bald monk said scaring Joo Dee out the door.

"That might come back to bite us in the blubber," Sokka said.

"I don't care! We don't leave a friend behind," Aang said.

"Yeah! Let's break some rules!" Toph said and in her over-exuberance, took out a whole wall of their house. "_Those who disobey the rules are trash_, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash," Naurto said as he spat out sand.

"Wow, that's profound coming from you," Sokka said.

"Our teacher said it," Sasuke said.

"Let's go," Aang said.

"Wait, Joo Dee didn't even ask where Sakura was," Hinata said.

"They know," Aang growled.

The ninjas looked to one another and Naruto made four clones to be them while they slipped into the shadows of Team Avatar that set out as a group this time. The Dai Li, who thought they were being oh-so-stealthy crawled down the roof, unaware an eye of sand had been hovering over them the whole time.

Long Feng's Office,

"I'm disappoint in your handling of the Avatar and his friends, Joo Dee. I had hoped you would be able to control the situation," Long Feng said to the kneeling Joo Dee as he in front of his strange, green fire fireplace.

"I'm so, sorry, but they don't trust me anymore," Joo Dee said looking utterly defeated, "I don't think I can keep working like this." She nearly broke down but Long Feng broke in,

"Joo Dee. The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," Long Feng said. The effect was instantaneous. Joo Dee's pupils dilated and she said in a much different voice,

"I am honored to accept the invitation."

"Good, now go away further orders," Long Feng said. The mindless drone obediently obeyed.

"If the Avatar and his friends keep looking for that girl it could upset the delicate balance of the city. It could even cost us control of the Earth King," Long Feng said as he got up.

"Should we take care of him?" a Dai Li agent asked.

"No. It's much too dangerous for us to confront him directly. Let's see if we can still handle this quietly," Long Feng said.

Iroh and Zuko's soon to be former apartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se,

"I was thinking about name for my new tea shop. How about the "Jasmine Dragon," it's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it," Iroh said.

"The Avatar and his friends are in the city," Zuko said. Iroh sighed,

"We have a chance for a new life here. If you go stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us," Iroh said.

"All the good things that are happening for you!" Zuko said, "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea!"

"There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is you want from your life and why," Iroh said.

"I want my destiny," Zuko said.

"What that means is entirely to you," Iroh said before his surly nephew walked away.

"The "Tea Weevil!" No, that' stupid!" Iroh said shaking his head.

Also in the Lower Ring was Team Avatar (with the shadow clones filling in for the present ninja and their actual counterparts were in the shadows).

"We should split up, we can cover more ground that way," Sokka said.

"For once a good idea," "Sasuke" said.

"You're way too good at that," Sokka said after a moment of remembering "who" was talking. "Sasuke" 'hned' very realistically in reply.

"Toph, you'd probably better come with me," Sokka said.

"Why, think I can't interrogate people on my own?" Toph asked.

"No I need your human lie detector skills," Sokka said.

"Oh, ok!" Toph said following him. Katara chose a seemingly random direction and Snow Leopard stalked her from shadows. She reached an area near a water source and was looking for someone to question.

"Katara," a voice said making the Water Tribe girl whirl around.

"Speak now, or I'll render you unable to," Snow Leopard said as she held an ice dagger to Jet's throat.

"Let me go!" Jet said.

"No, keep hold of him, Snow Leopard," Katara said.

"Yes Sifu Katara," Snow Leopard said.

"Hey, I've changed!" Jet protested wiggling.

"Can you restrain him while I make sure he's no lying?" Snow Leopard asked.

"You can do that?" Katara asked.

"Blood flow increases whenever one lies. That's why Toph is able to detect lies through the heart beating faster," Snow Leopard said. She let go of the boy and he staggered forwards.

"I'm here to help," Jet said looking at Katara.

"Is he lying?" Katara asked.

"He's not," Snow Leopard said after a moment.

"Who is that?" Jet asked.

"Snow Leopard, a shadow warrior friend," Katara said.

"You don't trust me but you'll trust one of them?" Jet scoffed.

"They've never given me reason to," Katara said. Jet reached for something which had the master waterbender use water to send him into an alley, and she then used her ice to pin him to the wall.

"Katara what is it!" Sokka asked as everyone else arrived.

"Jet. Jet is back," Katara said as she gestured to Jet.

"Who's Jet?" "Naruto" asked.

"Oh, that was before you joined us. He nearly tricked us into helping to wipe out a whole village of Fire Nation Colonists," Sokka said.

"You can't believe a word he says," Katara said adamantly.

"I'm here to help you find your friend!" Jet said as he revealed that he had a certain forehead protector mounted on green cloth.

"Where is she?" Fox asked stomping out from the shadows.

"We have to give him a chance," Aang said to Katara.

"I swear I've changed. I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control but I don't even have the gang now, I've put all that behind me," Jet explained.

"You're lying!" Katara said. Toph walked up to the wall he was pinned to,

"But he's not lying," Toph said,

"How can you tell?" Sokka asked. Katara remembered Snow Leopard's explanation and Toph spoke before she or Snow Leopard could,

"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth," Toph said.

"I can also tell he's not lying," Snow Leopard said.

"Katara, we don't have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Sa-er-Flamingo, we have to check it out," Aang said.

"Alright, but we're not letting you out of our sight!" Katara said, showing that she and Sokka actually _were_ related.

Jet led them to a non-descript shop,

"This was where she was before these bandits came out of nowhere and grabbed her," Jet said, "They mentioned taking her to New Ozai for the reward on her head."

"New Ozai?" the group asked.

"Used to be Omashu," an old man nearby said.

"All the way back to there and if they already got the reward we'll have to keep searching Fire Nation prisons to find her," Katara said.

"We have to go get her," Aang said, "Plus we have Appa, we'll be back here in now time!"

"And the Balloon!" Fox chimed in.

"You guys fixed that?" Sokka asked.

"We didn't have anything better to do," Raven said.

"Fine, then, let's go," Sokka said.

"Hn," Raven said.

"I'll come with you," Jet said.

"We don't need your help," Katara said. The Ninja's and their clones exchanged looks as they observed this.

"Why won't you trust me?" Jet asked

"Gee, I wonder," Katara said angrily.

"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked.

"What? No!" Katara said.

"I can tell you're lying!" Toph said sing-song-ily.

They were all going through the Lower Ring.

"We're finally leaving Ba Sing Se. Worst. City. Ever!" Toph said happily. That's when it happened. Smellerbee and Long Shot came out.

"Jet!" Smellerbee said as she ran over to him.

"I thought you said you didn't have your gang anymore," Katara said angrily.

"I don't," Jet said confused.

"We were so worried about you. How did you get away from the Dai Li?" Smellerbee said as she hugged him.

"The Dai Li!" Katara and "Naruto" said.

"I don't know what she's talking about," Jet said.

"He got arrested by them a couple weeks ago," Smellerbee said, "We saw them drag him away."

"Why would I be arrested, I've been living peacefully in the city," Jet said.

"This makes no sense, they're both telling the truth," Toph said feeling the vibrations.

"That's impossible," Katara said.

"Not it's not!" Sokka and the ninjas all said.

"Toph can't tell who's lying because they both think they're telling the truth," Sokka said, "Jet's been brainwashed."

"What? That's crazy!" Jet said, "It can't be. Stay away from me!" Jet said as everyone closed in on him.

Late Night,

A Dai Li agent walked through the shadows of the night. Suddenly, from behind a black clad figure ran past shoving him.

"Out of my way, skinny!" he said. The one who had done the shoving was none other than the Blue Spirit! The angered Dai Li agent followed him as he ducked into an alley. He fired his stone gloves. One impacted in the chest of the figure, the other removed its head? The Dai Li agent didn't have much time to comprehend what just happened whenever a sword was suddenly at his throat.

"If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do what I say," the voice said.

In another part of the city, in the Lower Ring Team Avatar, plus Jet and his freedom fighters were discussing what was going on.

"The Dai Li sent Jet to mislead us," Katara said.

"I'll bet that they're holding Sakura somewhere in the city," Aang said, "Oops, I mean, Flamingo."

"It's ok, we don't exactly need them yet," Raccoon said.

"Who are these extras?" Jet asked, "I was only aware of there being nine people in your group."

"Dispel them," Raccoon said. Fox shrugged and "Naruto," "Hinata," "Sasuke," and "Gaara" 'poofed' out of existence. Raccoon removed his mask and the others did too.

"How did you guys do that!" Smellerbee asked.

"Justu," Raven (Sasuke) said.

"It's Naruto's specialty," Hinata said.

"Back on topic. Maybe where they took Sakura is where they held Jet. Where did they take you?" Aand said.

"Now where. I don't know what you're talking about," Jet said.

"We need to jog Jet's true memories," Aang said.

"Maybe Katara should kiss him. That should bring something back," Sokka said.

"Maybe you should kiss him," Katara said angrily.

"Hey just an idea," Sokka said.

"A bad one," Aang muttered.

"Ooh wait, I got it!" Sokka said as he found a piece of straw and shoved it in Jet's mouth.

"I don't think it's working," Jet said before he spat it out.

"No surprise there," Sasuke muttered.

"Try to think of something from your past that triggers your emotions," Toph said.

"The Fire Nation," Smellerbee said, "Remember what they did to your family."

"Close your eyes, picture it," Katara ordered.

"No, it's too painful," Jet said.

"What no sarcastic remark?" Sokka said to Sasuke.

"I…understand," Sasuke said hesitantly.

"Maybe this will help," Katara said as she got behind him and bent water onto his temples, the water glowing as the healing powers took over.

"They took me to a headquarters under the water, like a lake," Jet said once his real memories surfaced.

"Wait, remember what Joo Dee said," Sokka said.

"Lake Laogai," Gaara said cutting Sokka off.

"That's it. Lake Laogai," Jet said.

"Why is everyone dressed like that?" Jet asked as everyone was in their black outfits with their masks.

"Because it's fun!" Aang (Skybison) said as he adjusted his skybison mask.

"And in case something backfires," Gaara (Raccoon) said.

"But one look at your bending and the Avatar and Naruto are exposed," Jet said.

"So Aang can just use water bending and um," Sokka (Snoozles) said.

"I'll stick to ninja skills," Naruto (Fox) said.

"What skills? All you have are a couple of academy jutsu, water and wall walking, and shadow clones with limited hand to hand," Sasuke (Raven) said.

"But if I don't bend I can still use airbending for fighting," Fox said.

"He's right," Hinata (Snow Leopard) said.

"Where's this secret headquarters," Snoozles said.

"Under the water somewhere," Jet said.

"There's a tunnel right there near the shore," Toph (Badgermole). She whistled as she used bending to reveal it. The group walked over to it and at the end where the cap was Badermole bent it off and they descended underground.

Momo and Appa hid in the brush while their humans went underground.

The green lit subterranean facility had a creepy air as they investigated. Jet led the way as his memories were coming back. They passed a room full of women with dilated pupils dressed exactly the same as Joo Dee.

"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se," a Dai Li agent said.

"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se," the women parroted back.

"This is what Flamingo told us about," Raccoon said, "We need to find her before they do this to her too."

"If she's as stubborn as me, I know where she'll be being held," Jet said.

The door slid open and the pinkette dropped her victim.

"Hey there," she said as she looked up with a sadistic smile, her green eyes blank yet full of malice. What the Blue Spirit had expected to find was not this.

Earlier,

Sakura had been struggling the whole time the lantern had been going round and round, as she had before. This time, though, it had continued well over a day.

"You are no one. You belong to the Dai Li. You are happy to help us preserve our culture heritage. You will accept the name Joo Dee," The relief agent said as he took over for her other brainwasher.

'**Like Hell I will**!' Inner Sakura raged. The quasi split had been silent a good deal since Sakura became a ninja and her time in this world. But she still appeared now and then. The brainwashing was bringing her back to the fore. Sakura began to lose consciousness.

'**Those F***ers won't know what hit them**!' Inner Sakura yelled.

The Dai Li thought they were successful until, suddenly, the girl used one hand to form strange signs until,

"**Substitution Bitches**!" She was loose and her brainwasher was now in her position, "**Time to pay the piper, bastards, CHA**!" Inner Sakura was on the loose and she was taking no prisoners.

Jet led them down a corridor that suddenly was blocked off by a wall.

"That's not something you expect," Snoozles said.

"You have made yourselves enemies of the state. Arrest them," Long Feng said before he left his minions to do his dirty work. There were so many that they were distracted.

Long Feng arrived at the chamber where Sakura was being kept only to find the pinkette was unbrainwashed and smiling at him sadistically and his agents were in a pile tied up by their own robes.

"**Try to make me your bitch, will ya? Well now you're mine**!" she yelled before she attacked.

Skybison and Jet arrived to see a bent and broken Long Feng land on the ground in front of them. Jet went to see if there was any trace of who did this. There was nothing.

"Now where is she!" Skybison demanded.

"J-Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," Long Fend managed to say. Jet's eyes went blank and he moved to attack Skybison but,

"You are in the field of my Divination," Snow Leopard's voice said. 64 hits later and Jet was down. However, Long Feng was gone.

Earlier,

"**So, why are you here**?" the pink haired girl asked.

"I'm here to take you so I can ransome you for the Avatar," the Blue Spirit said before the door opened the Blue Spirit took on a ready stance only to have it be revealed to be,

"Uncle?" the Blue Spirit said relaxing as he saw it was Iroh.

"The Blue Spirit. I wonder who could behind that mask," Iroh said as he stroked his mask.

"What are you doing here?" the Blue Spirit asked after he revealed himself to be Zuko.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Iroh said. He looked over to see Sakura was tying up some of the Dai Li agents with their own robes.

"**Don't mind me**," she said, "**Your nephew here says he wants to use me to get the Avatar**."

"So, do you plan on keeping her in our new apartment? Should I go make her some tea?" Iroh asked.

"**Jasmine tea would be nice**!" Sakura said as she shoved the stone glove of one of the Dai Li in a rather…_uncomfortable_ place.

"First, I'd have to capture her and get out of here," Zuko said.

"And then what! You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him and then you had nowhere to go!" Iroh yelled.

"I would have figured something out," Zuko insisted.

"If his friends hadn't found you You would have frozen to death!" Iroh said. Sakura sat down on a Dai Li and just decided to enjoy the show.

"I know my own destiny, Uncle!" Zuko said.

"Is it your own destiny or a destiny someone else has tried to force on you," Iroh said.

"Stop it, Uncle, I have to do this," Zuko said as he turned to Sakura who yawned at him.

"I'm begging you Prince Zuko! It's time to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you and what do you want," Iroh said. Zuko yelled and tossed down his blades.

"**So, can I go now**?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. We should go too. Come Zuko," Iroh said as he picked up Zuko's mask and blades.

"**Well I'm going to go cause more chaos so you can get out of here. Though, I might still come get that tea**," Sakura said before she watched them leave. She was about to leave herself whenever she heard footsteps approaching her.

With the rest of Team Avatar,

"We have to get out of here. Long Feng and the others have to have Sa-Flamingo," Skybison said as they left Lake Laogai. Longshot was carrying Jet and Smellerbee was following them. They got up to the surface to see,

"**Cha! Is that all you bitches have**!" Sakura only she seemed possessed.

"Oh no, it's that hypnosis incident all over again!" Fox moaned.

"What?" Sokka asked.

"Our teacher once tried to use hypnosis for something or other and S-Flamingo's reaction was very violent," Raven said.

"**Who the hell are ya callin' Flamingo**!" Sakura yelled.

"It's your codename, you weren't here and didn't get to pick it," Fox said. Sakura bashed him on the head and looked around.

"**Let's get the hell out of here**," Sakura said before she fainted. Two walls of stone appeared and Long Feng, looking slightly better was on one, his minions the other until.

"GRAHHH!"

"Appa!" Skybison said happily, removing his mask as the skybison slammed through the walls. The others rallied sending every Dai Li they could into the water. Long Feng tried to go at Appa but the bison caught him by the foot and flung him onto the lake, the would-be puppet master skipping like a stone. The sixlegged beast spat out his shoe.

"Excellent timing boy!" Aang said hugging his pet across the head.

"Let's get out of here!" Smellerbee said.

"You heard her!" Sokka said as he took off his mask, "Though these didn't do us much good."

"It was still fun!" Aang said.

"True," Sokka said. Gaara removed his mask and pulled out a scroll. The balloon poofed back into existence startling those who weren't in the know about what the group could do.

"Ok, those who don't want to ride Appa can ride with us," Naruto said removing his mask.

They were gone and that was when the fire duo climbed out.

"Leave it behind, Zuko," Iroh said. Zuko dropped the mask before he and Iroh also left. The Blue Spirit mask sinking into the lake.

* * *

><p><strong>MP<strong>: Yeah, again sorry for this being late, but I am a procrastinator. I need to stop that. Oh interesting final note before the death of Ozai for this chapter, I swtiched out what quote I was originally going to use for this chapter.

* * *

><p>It's time for yet another of <em>The Many Deaths of Ozai<em>.

This Death of Ozai is brought to you by **Makenzie Rush**

* * *

><p><em>Ozai's Death at the hands of:<strong> Pride from FMA Brotherhood featuring Envy<strong>_

_"Ozai"_  
>The Fire Lord snapped his head up sharply toward the breathy sound of an empty voice. "Who dares address me with such disrespect?" he growled. The War Room was empty, save for himself. There were guards outside as usual and he was the <strong><em>Fire Lord<em>**. What was there to worry about? His breath was stolen away as he watched a figure make its way to the center of the room.

His eyes must have been deceiving him.

Before him stood his father. Azulon.

The man he murdered five years ago.

_How is this possible?_

"_Why is your son still alive?_"

Ozai had no response. His mouth was still wide open in shock.

"_I said why is Zuko still living? Were you too weak to take the life of your own kin? I always believed you to be the stronger son. I suppose my belief was incorrect."_  
>"Me? Weak? You have room to talk! Or did you forget <em>I<em> was the one to take your life in the end?"  
>Before Azulon could react, Ozai shot the strongest force of fire he could at the apparition. Yet, seemingly instantaneously, a sharp, almost searing like pain shot through his abdomen. Ozai's eyes widened in stunned shock as he watched the shadow from his fire attack not only become tangible, but tear into his body as well. The shadows separated themselves into opposite directions, tearing his sides and lower body completely in half. To the once proud leader, the mere seconds seemed to move in slow motion. Ozai sank to his knees in disbelief. As he fell backwards, the source of the shadows entered his blurring line of vision.<p>

_I was defeated….by a child?_

But there was something other worldly about the boy with the black hair. "Some fire lord. Can't even tell when he's being deceived," said a voice he was unfamiliar with. He watched in horror as "Azulon" _actually morphed_ into himself. He stared as his image was stolen right before him. As his world faded into black, the last thing Ozai heard was the black haired boy's voice as he turned to his partner:

"_Let's get to work._"

* * *

><p><strong>WARNING<strong>: I proofed this myself, ergo, I probably missed some of my mistakes because my mind will fill in the gaps with what I think should be there instead of what is there.


	22. Apology

**_Bolt out of the Blue_  
><strong>

**Disclaimer**: Viacom owns _Avatar: The Last Airbender _and Kishimoto owns _Naruto_.

**MP**:I know I promised the last three chapters by the end of May. I heartily apologize for the delay. My laptop hard drive is fried. If I hadn't been a procrastinator I might have chapter 19 for you. But I am still attempting to break my self of this bad habit. I will start on chapter 19 as soon as I can track down my muse and tie it to a chair. It might have run off to Aruba with my focus and my discipline.

I will be seeing you soon and chapter 19 _will_ be my next post.

In the mean time, I shall leave you with this little side story about my alt!fem!Minato (Fengdao) and her son the Naruto analogue (Feng Xuanwo aka Feng-Wo) with special appearance by alt!male!Kushina (Hong)

_MP_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Arrows<strong>_

"Momma why do you have the arrow on your forehead?" a three year old Feng-Wo asked his mother. Fengdao looked away from a report turned in by one of her many warriors. She sighed, she knew she would have to tell her son someday ( though she secretly hoped Hong would do it). Fengdao set the scroll down and picked her young so up and set him on her lap. She decided that he didn't need to know the real reason why. Or at least, not the whole reason.

"Do you remember Mommy's stories about the Air Nomads?" she asked.

"Yeah they had flyin' bye-sons and gliders and made air move like we can," Feng-Wo said.

"Well a long, long, time ago way before even grandmother was a little girl, the Air Nomads had members of their group that weren't benders. Most stayed with their families but a few decided to settle down by the temples. These people were grandmother's grandmothers's great-great-great grand parents," at each great Fengdao tickled Feng-Wo making him squirm and giggle. She knew she'd left off many "greats" but a three year old, even a bending prodigy with the Wind Spirits's might, wouldn't focus for very long.

"Whenever an airbender completes their training they get arrows tattooed all over their body." more tickling followed as Fengdao demonstrated, "Before the War the arrows were blue. After, because of those mean people, we decided to use red. So all these really mean is your Mommy is a great airbender. One day you'll get them too."

"Really?"

"Really," Fendao said with a smile, "Now, I need to read this and you need to go over those forms your father taught you."

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be an airbender just like you!" Feng-Wo said.

"I'm sure you will be, Little Whirlwind," Fengdao said. Living up to her pet name the three year old left the room and it looked as if a whirlwind had been through the office that Fengdao was in.

"We're going to have to tell him someday," Hong said entering the room.

"I know, but the influence of the spirit should already be obvious," Fengdao said as she resumed reading the report.

"No, about the arrows being red," Hong said Fengdao looked up at their husband startled she composed herself,

"If we're lucky whenever he gets his arrows they'll be blue again," Fengdao said

_If the war is won and we no longer need to remember the innocent blood spilt by the Fire Nation_

* * *

><p>As an apology today's Death of Ozai will be something special.<p>

**Ozai's Death at the hands of** your savior, AMON!

The masked freak and his band of warriors moved like Azula's friend Ty Lee and had decimated and incapacitated his guards leaving Ozai alone to face this threat. As he moved to bend lightning his arms were snared by lines thrown by this freak's accomplices.

"You have no honor!" Ozai yelled as he managed to shoot fire at the ones holding him with his mouth. Then, he was electrocuted. As way held up after he had been shocked the freak had closed the gap.

"And now I will cleanse this world of your evil and your impure bending," the freak said as his hand touched Ozai's forehead. He screamed as he was cut off from his inner fire.

Amon left the throne room with his men to finish their work with the guards who still needed their impurities removed. Whenever Azula fled into the throne room to hide from these people, she found her father lying dead, a knife burried in his gut and one of his hands still gripping it.

* * *

>Actually, technically, this Death was at the hands of Ozai himself...<p><p>

WARNING: I proofed this myself at 1 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time so yeah I might have missed something,


	23. Chapter 19

__Bolt Out of the Blue

MP: I told you my next post would be 19 and here it is. All it took was finally tracking down my focus and forcing myself to exercise some discipline. Basically, I've forced myself to write or no tumblr. Stink' site's addictive enough. So I will not be getting back on tubmlr until I finish this fanfic.

Expect the rest as soon as I tie my muse to a chair (again) and force myself to sit down and crank these out.

Review Responses:

arandomreviewer: Jean Gray is being saved for Book Three. I like the idea of Dark Phoenix killing the so called Phoenix King.

Bi-Beast King: Thanks for the compliment! As far as the Marvel requests, well I only really know The Thing, I kinda know carnage, but I don't know Abomination. Which hero is he the villain to? The Star Wars stuff. Done and Done! I'm using Darth Maul for this Ozai Death and saving the others for Book 3.

Legionary Prime: Might I say, your avatar is pretty sweet. Joker...I feel dumb. I'm more of a DC fangirl and I didn't even think of it, plus it'd be Mark Hammel vs. Mark Hammel! It's too beautiful!

shinshinjane: I'M SORRY! SO SORRY! JE SUIS DESOLE! GOMEN NASAI! I'm all out of I'm sorries but still I'm sorry! (I think I went overly dramatic there myself)

Quote:

_"It's good to be the King," Louis XVI, History of the World Part I_

* * *

><p><em><em>Chapter 19: Ripple Effect Part 1, The Earth King

_Previously on Bolt Out of the Blue…_

_"Why won't you just let us talk to the Earth King!" Sokka yelled._

_"The Earth King has no time to deal with political squabbles and the minutia of day to day military activities," Long Feng said._

_"Bull shit!" Naruko said._

_"How ever did you hope to pass her off as a lady?" Long Feng asked._

_"The same way you pass yourself off as a human being!" Naruko replied._

_"And what we have could be the most important information he's ever heard," Aang said._

_"What's most important to His majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se," Long Feng said. Sasuke glared at the man, his sharigan activating, Naruko's eyes were tinging red, "All his decrees are issued for such. It is my duty to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military."_

_"So the King is just a figure head," Katara realized. Sasuke nodded._

_"He's your puppet!" Toph yelled._

_"Oh, no, no, His Maesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war," Long Feng said patronizingly._

_"I'm getting sick of people talking down to us as if we're not seeing what's actually underneath your piece of trash mask!" Naruko said, her eyes becoming redder, a stone hand was clamped over her mouth._

_"And we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless," Sokka said storming forwards, "You could lead an inva-."_

_"Stop. I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned in its walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a panic. Our economy would be ruined. Our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear.," Long Feng said._

_"You adapt or you die," Sasuke stated blandly, "That's all there is to it."_

_"Be silent. By silencing all talk of conflict Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful utopia, the last one on Earth," Long Feng said._

_"I think you have your words mixed up," Sasuke spat, "The proper word is Distopia." A stone hand slapped him. Or, it tried but Sasuke saw it coming and dodged._

_"You can't keep this from all these people!" Katara protested._

_"I'll tell them. I'll tell everyone!" Aang said._

_"Until now you've been our honored guests. Now you will be watched by Dai Li agents all the time. Act up and you will be expelled from the City. I hear you are searching for someone. It would be a shame to leave the city without completing your quest. Joo Dee will show you home," Long Feng said as he removed the gag from Naruko. A woman walked in, dressed identical to Joo Dee, but it was clearly not her. Her face and hair were not even remotely similar._

_"What happened to Joo Dee?" asked Katara._

_"I am Joo Dee. I will be your host the whole time you are in Ba Sing Se," the woman said._

_'Fuzzy, I think we're in deep trouble,' Naruko thought._

_"I have brought the Yellow Flash and his comrades as requested," Xia Ling,_

_"Thank you, Grandmaster of the Xue clan," said the woman sitting on the orange, yellow, and white throne. She was dressed similar to what an ancient Main Land warlord was supposed to wear in orange and white._

_"I am Grandmaster Fengdao of the Niao Clan," said the woman standing, her sun blond hair closely cropped. On her forehead was a red arrow, an arrow seen on her warriors. During this intro Xia Ling had gone over to his dais._

_"I am Grandmaster Huo Long," said the elderly man on the red and gold throne, he was dressed more like the Damiyo's the other world travelers were used to._

_"And I am Grandmaster Shanshi," said the youngest leader. He seemed to be barely in his teens with bright red hair, and familiar green eyes to two members of the team, it would have been more but Kakashi was looking elsewhere._

_'Gaara!' though Minato and Temari. But this doppelganger had eyebrows and no mark on his head nor were his eyes ringed with black circles. Minato reanalyzed the others and stopped dead when he realized Fengdao could have been his female twin. Her blue eyes bore into his with suspicion. He looked over at the old man who was Huo Long and he was a dead ringer for Sarutobi. Xia Ling removed his face mask and only Kakashi recognized who he looked like: Zabuza._

_"Since when did your brother not look like a psycho, Four Pony Tails," Sai said._

"_Stop it, Uncle, I have to do this," Zuko said as he turned to Sakura who yawned at him._

"_I'm begging you Prince Zuko! It's time to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you and what do you want," Iroh said. Zuko yelled and tossed down his blades._

"_**Let's get the hell out of here**__," Sakura said before she fainted. Two walls of stone appeared and Long Feng, looking slightly better was on one, his minions the other until._

"_GRAHHH!" _

"_Appa!" Skybison said happily, removing his mask as the skybison slammed through the walls. The others rallied sending every Dai Li they could into the water. Long Feng tried to go at Appa but the bison caught him by the foot and flung him onto the lake, the would-be puppet master skipping like a stone. The sixlegged beast spat out his shoe._

"_Excellent timing boy!" Aang said hugging his pet across the head. _

"_Let's get out of here!" Smellerbee said._

"_You heard her!" Sokka said as he took off his mask, "Though these didn't do us much good."_

"_It was still fun!" Aang said._

"_True," Sokka said. Gaara removed his mask and pulled out a scroll. The balloon poofed back into existence startling those who weren't in the know about what the group could do._

"_Ok, those who don't want to ride Appa can ride with us," Naruto said removing his mask._

_They were gone and that was when the fire duo climbed out._

"_Leave it behind, Zuko," Iroh said. Zuko dropped the mask before he and Iroh also left. The Blue Spirit mask sinking into the lake._

Chapter 19 Ripple Effect Part 1: The Earth King

Everyone was relaxing on a nearby island. Sokka stood up and stretched.

"Look, we escaped the Dai Li, we got Sakura back. We should just go to the Earth King and tell him our plan. We're on a roll."

"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll," Katara said.

"She's right, think for once," Sasuke said from a nearby boulder. The other ninjas hadn't even gotten out of their balloon, Jet was still out of it, and Longshot was sitting next to the balloon basket with Smellerbee. Both were staying out of this.

"But we can build on it! Look, if we're going to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens we need the Earth King's Support."

"What makes you think we'll get it?" Toph said, "I don't know if you've noticed but things don't usually go that smoothly for our little gang." Sasuke 'hn'ed his assent with Toph's point.

"I know. But I've got a good feeling about this. This time will be different," Sokka said.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Naruto said jumping up in the balloon making it rock.

"I think we should split up," Gaara said, "So that we can't all get captured."

"I agree," Sasuke said.

"Yeah! Let's do that!" Sakura said. The others facepalmed at the fangirlish statement.

"Hinata, what do you think?" Aang asked.

"I think we need to stay together," Hinata said.

"Well, could you drop us in the Lower Ring?" Smellerbee asked, "We did what we came to do, which was help you get your friend. We'd only get in the way now."

"The Dai Li will be after you too," Aang said.

"We know. We'll find our own way," Smellerbee said.

"Long Feng's got control of the city!" Katara said, "We don't know how far his conspiracy with the Dai Li goes. I say we should just go and leave this miserable city behind."

"For once I agree with sweetness. I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se and I can't even SEE!" Toph said.

"But, if we show him the truth, he'll have to believe us," Aang said.

"See, Aang's with it!"

"Me too!" Naruto said.

"And So's Naruto," Sokka said.

"Well, if we showed the Earth King the truth, things could change," Katara said.

"I don't trust the new positive Sokka. LONG FENG BRAINWASHED YOU DIDN'T HE!" Toph said. Naruto immediately jumped away from Sokka in fear.

"He's not," Sasuke said, "He's just being a buffoon like always. But, for once, he's making sense."

That's when the ships were spotted. Sokka stated the obvious.

"That's probably the Dai Li searching for us," Sokka said.

"Let's Fly," Katara said.

Soon all of them were in the air.

"We'll go drop off the other two," Naruto said before they veered away from the course the others were taking.

The ninja's rejoined the rest of Team Avatar in the middle of them fighting their way through the palace gates and the Dai Li.

"SHADOW CLONES!" Naruto yelled as multiples of the airbending ninja appeared and began to help clear the way. Granted the bending was already lending a lot of weight to Team Avatar's side. Sasuke laughed at Katara's constant apologies to their opponents, opponents, who underestimated Sakura because she was a nonbender. But, her ninja skills had improved through practice and implantation of some of the fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors Sokka had taught her. Sokka also doing well because of this.

They got into the main area and were met with more Dai Li.

"Which way to the Earth King?" Sokka said as they fought, well as Toph owned their opponents.

"How should I know? I'm still voting for us to just leave!" Toph said before she kept fighting. Sokka split off to check doors as the others fought.

They were through, for now and Sokka climbed over a pile of rubble.

"Now that's an impressive door. It's got to go somewhere," Sokka said. Sasuke rolled his eyes and muttered what sounded suspiciously like 'buffoon' under his breath as Sokka make his way over to it. His kick doing nothing.

"Let me," Sakura said just as Aang and Toph moved up to bend. The result: One door was cracked by Sakura's fist and the other was whole but both were sent flying.

"A little warning next time?" Sokka said: he had also been sent flying. Of course they still moved as a fighting unit, elements and weapons at the ready. They reached the dais and Long Feng was there with his Dai Li goons. Team Avatar was positioned like this: Toph on the far left, Sokka next to her, Katara next to him, with Aang on the far right. Behind them and off center were, in order, Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura, and Gaara.

"We need to talk to you!" Aang said.

Fire Duo's apartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se,

"You did the right thing, letting the girl go free," Iroh said as they walked in as dawn turned to morning.

"I don't feel right," Zuko said as the room became blurry and he collapsed.

"Zuko!" Iroh said as he approached his nephew's side

Earth King's Throne Room, Imperial Palace, Upper Ring, Ba Sing Se

"They're here to over throw you!" Long Feng said. Naruto was restrained by Hinata.

"No! We're on your side!" Sokka said, "We're here to help."

"You have to trust us!" Katara said.

"You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, breakdown my fancy door, and you expect me to trust you?" the Earth King said.

"He has a good point," Toph said. The others exchanged looks and nodded.

"If you're on my side then drop your weapons and stand down," the Earth King said.

More looks were exchanged before Aang dropped his staff at the same time Katara dropped her waterwhip, Sokka his machete and club, Toph bent her boulder into the ground, Naruto also dropped his staff and some of his kunai, Hinata her water, Sasuke let his flames go, Sakura dropped her kunai and fans, and Gaara made his sand go back into his gourd before all of them relaxed their postures.

"See? We're friends you Earthiness!" Aang said before Long Feng struck like a coward. He managed to get everyone. Or so he thought. Gaara was never truly unarmed and had made a sandclone before substituting it for himself who was behind the guards faster than anyone could follow.

Of course the smug bastard smirked.

"Detain the assailants," Long Feng said.

"But we dropped out weapons," Sokka said.

"Because we're all fools," Sasuke said with a slight growl. Sokka ignored him,

"We're your allies," he said as he continued his protest.

"Make sure the Avatar and his friends never see daylight again," Long Feng said.

"That's what you think," Naruto said with a grumble.

"The Avatar!" The Earth King said, "You're the Avatar?"

"Uh, no, him," Sokka said as he nodded his head towards Aang.

"Over here!" Aang said somehow managing to move his hands through the earth cuffs before putting them back.

"Idiot you could have gotten free," Sasuke said.

"What does it matter, Your Highness, they're enemies of the State," Long Feng said as he attempted his puppetry.

"Perhaps you're right," the Earth King said. The Earth King's pet bear had made his way over to Aang by this point and was sniffing him. Then he licked him which made the monk giggle.

"Though, Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say," the Earth King said.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto said before he was shushed. Aang walked forwards.

"Well, sir, there's a war going right now. For the past 100 years, in fact. The Dai Li's kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to control the city and to control you," Aang said.

"A 'Secret War?' That's crazy!" the Earth King said.

"Completely," Long Feng said.

"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you so he kidnapped our friend to black mail us, and black mail is the least of his crimes! He tried to brainwash that friend and brainwashed another!" Aang said.

"All lies," Long Feng said, "I've never even seen their friend before."

"Your claim is difficult to believe. Even from an Avatar," The Earth King said.

"These Hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks," Long Feng said.

"Why would Anarchists have organized cells?" Sasuke said. Long Feng glared at him and continued,

"If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction," Long Feng said.

"I have to trust my advisor," The Eath King said.

"Then what about the fact we can prove that the Dai Li have been doing all this," Naruto said.

"This does bear looking into," The Earth King said, "If your proof satisfies me I'll have the Dai Li apologize." He signaled and they were let go out of their restraints, Gaara still hiding among the Dai Li agents. Long Feng skulked off with Dai Li, Gaara followed them.

Fire Duo, Their apartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se

Zuko tossed and turned from his illness.

"You are burning up," Iroh said as he tended to the feverish teen, "You have an intense fever. This will help cool you down."

"So, thirsty," Zuko said as he sat up only to be pushed back down by Iroh.

"Here's some clean water to drink," Iroh said as he drew forth a ladle of water, "Stay under the blankets and sweat this out." Zuko grabbed the ladle, downed it and threw it before he downed the bucket and tossed it too. He coughed as he rolled on his side, Iroh tucking him in.

Train to Lake Laogai, Bas Sing Se,

"So this is a train," the Earth King said, "I didn't realize it would be so public."

"This is your first time leaving the Upper Ring?" Katara asked as the citizens stared at the Earth King.

"This is my first time leaving the palace, though that's the way to travel!" the Earth King said as he pointed at Aang on Appa with Naruto air gliding nearby. Unbeknownst to the guards, the ninjas were on the roof and Gaara was still with the Dai Li.

The ninjas were not optimistic.

"They've had plenty of time to move the Joo Dee's and destroy the place," Sasuke said, "Our evidence is gone. He won't believe Sakura's testimony.

"But it's all we have," Sakura said.

"Not true," Hinata, "Toph's a human lie detector and so am I, we could convince them."

"Or show them something they can't cover up!" Naruto said as he landed.

"What?" Sasuke said.

"I don't know, but there's gotta be something!" Naruto said.

The arrived and when Toph tried to bring up the tunnel it was in pieces.

"It's gone," Toph said.

"The Dai Li must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence," Sokka said.

"How oddly convenient for you," the Earth King said as he turned to leave.

"But this proves the conspiracy even more!" Sokka said.

"Yeah! I mean, why else would they collapse it!" Naruto said.

"Long Feng was right. I'm leaving. I don't have any more time for this nonsense," The Earth King said as he and his guards turned to leave.

"The Wall!" Katara said.

"Yeah!

"Your Majesty, if you come with us to the outer wall, we can prove to you the secret war is real," Aang said as he landed in front of the Earth King.

"No Earth King in Ba Sing Se history has ever been to the Outer Wall."

"If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa," Sokka said.

Hook, line and sinker.

"Good one," Naruto said to Sokka as he buzzed past while the Earth King, his guards, and the nonninja portion of Team Avatar rode on Apaa.

"First time flying?" Toph asked him.

"It's both thrilling and terrifying," the Earth King said.

"Yeah, I hate it too," Toph said.

"I really have to be honest with you. Part of me hopes that what you're telling me about this war isn't true," the Earth King said. Naruto landed gently in front of him.

"I understand what you mean," he said, "But truth is needed." He took off again.

"I wish it wasn't," Aang said to the Earth King as they flew over fields.

Fire Duo, Their Appartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se

Iroh sat next to Zuko as he groaned in his sleep from pain. Iroh continued to try to cool him down as he dreamed.

_Zuko said on a dais: He was Fire Lord! He was whole. A Blue Dragon, who sounded like Azula told him to sleep. To let go. The red dragon told him not to listen to her. To fight it. Then everything fell apart. _

Outer Wall, Ba Sing Se,

"It's still there!" Aang said as he pointed to it, though it was walled around now.

"What is that?" the Earth King asked.

"It's a drill, a giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls," Sokka said.

They landed and the Earth King stood near a parapet and looked down,

"I can't believe I never knew," he said in shock. Then Long Feng arrived with two Dai Li. One was actually Gaara in disguise.

"I can explain your majesty. This is nothing more than…a construction project," he said.

"Like hell!" Naruto yelled.

"Really? Then perhaps you could explain why there is a Fire Nation insignia on your "construction project"." Katara said.

"And while you're at it why would wouldn't have told the King about this oh so important project. After all, you're all about your walls in this city," Sakura said, "You tried to drill that into my head, remember?"

"Well it's imported of course," Long Feng said, "You know you can't trust domestic machinery."

"What machinery? We've yet to see some from you guys!" Naruto said. The silence afterwards was telling.

"Surely you don't believe this children instead of your most loyal attendant," Long Feng said, his tone gaining a slight touch of sneer. The seconds of the mental tug-of-war in the Earth King's head were brutal.

"Dai Li, arrest Long Feng," the Earth King said (unknowingly cutting his puppet strings), "I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."

The Agent next to Gaara used a bit of stone of move the chains into place before yanking it back. Gaara revealed himself and took the 'borrowed' cuff and placed it on Long Feng himself.

"I think my way of containment would work better, Your Majesty," he said before he used a sand coffin on Long Feng,

"No, I can trust my Dai Li," The Earth King said.

"As you wish," Gaara said as he released him. The other agent led him away.

"You can't arrest me! You need me more than you know!" he said as he was dragged off.

"Long Feng is Long Gone!" Sokka said with a laugh, "I've been waiting to use that one!"

"You should have waited longer," Sasuke said.

"Whatever!" Sokka said, Naruto, on the other hand was rolling with laughter.

"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools. And that makes me the King Fool. We're at war with the Fire Nation," the Earth King said.

"That's why we came, Your Highness, because we think you can help us end the war," Sokka said.

"We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer. It's energy will give the firebenders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable," Aang said.

"But there is hope. Before the comet comes we have a window of opportunity. An eclipse is coming. The sun will be entirely blocked by the moon and the firebenders will be helpless," Sokka said.

"What are you saying?" the Earth King said.

"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation: the Day of Black Sun," Sokka said.

"I don't know. That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se leaving us completely vulnerable," the Earth King said.

"You're already vulnerable," Sokka said, "The Fire Nation won't just sit back, they'll keep on until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance," Sokka said.

"He's also not suggesting you pull all your troops out. That would be foolish. You have a fortress like city, use its walls for something other than a caste system," Sasuke said.

"Very well, you have my support," the Earth King said after several moments. Everyone celebrated. Naruto dragged Sasuke around in a bizarre happy dance that absorbed more people until all the ninjas were in it while Toph, Sokka, and Katara danced in a line with Aang on his scooter zooming around in happiness. Momo being Momo.

"Your Majesty," a voice. The kids stopped dancing as he approached. His was a tall strongly built man who was dressed like a general and was barefoot signifying earthbender, "I apologize for the interruption." The general bowed before the Earth King.

"This is General Hao, he's the leader of the Council of Five: My highest Ranking Generals," the Earth King said by way of explanation.

"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody," General Hao said.

"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se," the general said as a box was placed before the Earth King who sat at Long Feng's desk, "Including you kids."

"Secret files?" Aang said.

"Toph Bei Fong," the Earth King said as he picked up a scroll and handed it to General Hao who handed it to Toph who handed it to Katara. She opened it,

"It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city and she wants to see you," Katara said. Toph reacted with shock before getting mad,

"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home? That's just sad," she said as a cover for both shock and slight anger.

"Aang," the Earth King said.

"This scroll was found a few days ago in your house in the Upper Ring by the Dai Li while you were out," General Hao explained.

"It's from the Eastern Air Temple," Aang said as Momo licked his head.

"Is there a letter for me and Sokka, by any chance?" Katara asked.

"I'm afraid not," the Earth King said.

"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you," General Hao said as he handed Katara a scroll.

"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships," Katara said.

"That could be Dad!" Sokka said.

"Protecting the mouth of Cameleon Bay, led by Hakoda, it is Dad!" Katara said happily.

"Anything for any of us?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Well, the thing is your names aren't properly known in all cases," the Earth King said.

"I am Gaara of the Desert," Gaara said.

"Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata said.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said,

"Sakura Haruno," Sakura said.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said.

"But our wanted posters say otherwise," Sakura said with a slight giggle.

"Well there are intelligence reports that might interest you. It's been gathered by the Dai Li that you are Shadow Assassins?" General Hao said.

"Our word for it is Ninja," Naruto said.

"We have information about the Mysterious Yellow Flash, who helps our army but is one of the Dai Li's top wanted," General Hao said, "He's always seen here at least once a week." Naruto took the map and looked at the mark.

"Minato," Gaara said.

Fire Duo, their Apartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se,

"You should know this is not a natural sickeness, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea," Iroh said as he sat Zuko up and had him sip tea.

"What's happening?" Zuko asked.

"Your critical decision. What you did beneath that lake. It was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body," as Iroh said this he made Zuko sip more tea.

"What does that mean?" Zuko asked.

"You're going through a metamorphosis my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience," Iroh said as he stood, "But when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be," Iroh said as he resumed to tend to Zuko.

Imperial Palace, Upper Ring, Ba Sing Se

"There's a man living in the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru," Aang said.

"What's a "guru?" Some kind of poisonous blowfish?" Sokka said. The ninjas facevaulted as Aang explained,

"No, a spiritual expert. He says he wants to help me take the next step in the Avatar Journey. He says he can teach me to control the Avatar state," Aang said.

"And I can't believe we know where our Dad is now," Katara said.

"I know what you mean," Toph said, "My mom's in the city and from her letter is sounds like she finally understands me."

"And Naruto's father is usually seen in a certain spot," Hinata said.

"This is all such big news, where do we even start?" Sokka said.

"I hate to even say it, but, we have to split up," Katara said.

"Split up, but we're a family and we need to stick together," Aang said.

"You have to meet this guru, Aang. If we're going to invade the Fire Nation, you're going to need to be ready," Katara said.

"Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I can drop you off at Camelon Bay to see your Dad," Aang said.

"Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion," Sokka said, "I guess that's me."

"No, you go to Camelon Bay, I'll stay here with the King," Katara said.

"Or you both go and I stay," Sasuke said.

"You don't know enough about our world," Katara said, "Don't get me wrong you're brilliant, but you need one of us to give you input."

"Hn," Sasuke said. Katara mentally translated it as 'Fine.'

"You are the nicest sister Ever!" Sokka said as he began to nearly fangirl over his sister.

"Easy there big brother," Katara said after he pecked her on the cheek, "Though you're right, I am." Sasuke watched the interaction and barely hid his hurt.

"Then, the rest of us just go for Minato?" Sakura said.

"No. Sakura, please escort Lady Toph," Gaara said.

"I don't need escorting, Sandy," Toph said with a snort, "Especially not by Fangirl."

"Please," Gaara said.

"Fine, plus, if there's anything to be read, she can do it," Toph said, "Why aren't you sticking around, Sandy?"

"I am needed to approach Minato," Gaara said, "I also want to see him." So it would split like this:

Aang, Momo, and Appa- Eastern Air Temple

Sokka- Camelon Bay

Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara- investigating a Minato sighting

Katara and Sasuke- Staying with the King

The next morning they were ready to split.

"Katara, I need to tell you something, I 've been wanting to tell you for a long time," Aang said.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked.

"Katara I-,"

"ALRIGHT!" Sokka said interrupting grabbing the monk in a headlock and noogieing him.

"MORON!" Sakura said smacking him.

"HEY!" Sokka said, "So who's ready to get going on a men only man trip!"

"Aang and Sokka, I wish you a good journey," the Earth King said as Sokka turned around still in noogie pose, "Ba Sing Se owes you its thanks. We look forward to your safe return." They straightened up and all bowed.

"Your Majesty, there are three female warriors here to see you. They're from the Island of Kyoshi," a guard said.

"That's Suki!" Sokka said as he fell off Appa.

"You know these warriors?" the Earth King asked.

"Oh yeah, the Kyoshi Warriors are a skilled group of fighters, trustworthy too. They're good friends of ours," Sokka said.

"Then we shall welcome them as honored guests," the Earth King said.

"Wait, Aang," Katara said before she hugged him and gave him a kiss, which made the poor boy blush.

"I'm really going to miss you guys," Toph said.

"Me too," Katara said.

"Yeah," Aang said.

"Me three!" Naruto said as he also joined in the hug. Everyone but Sokka, Sasuke, and Gaara were in the hug. Then they grabbed onto Sokka and Sasuke.

"Great, that's enough! Ok, we love each other," Sokka said uncomfortably, "Seriously."

Fire Duo, Their Apartment, Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se

Zuko awoke weak and walked into their wash room only to see himself as the Avatar in his reflection!

This time Zuko awoke for real, drenched in sweat. He touched his scar mournfully.

Sokka, Aang, Momo, and Appa enroute to Camelon Bay

"See, Aang? A little positive thinking goes a long way. We got the King on our side, Long Feng arrested, and when we get back, Suki's waiting for me," Sokka said.

"Y-yeah," Aang said, still reminded of his interrupted confession, "Girls are waiting for us. Thanks positive attitude."

"Everything is going to work out perfectly, from now on and forever," Sokka said.

He shouldn't have said that….

The Dai Li were actually Long Feng's men through and through.

Toph and Sakura walked right into a trap. Both caught in the same box by Shin Fu and the boulder.

And the Kyoshi Warriors were fakes: Azula, Ty Lee, and Mei in disguise.

After so many turns for the good, things seemed to be beginning to unravel.

* * *

><p>MP: So, once again folks, it's time for anotherof <em>The<em> _Deaths of Ozai!_

Ozai's death at the hands of: **Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I**

Ozai was outside enjoying the air whenever he heard something. He turned to see a strange creature with red skin with zig-zaging tattoos on it's head full of spikes with bright yellow eyes not unlike a firebender's in color, but sinister.

"What do you want?" Ozai asked.

"My Master wishes you eliminated," the being said. The fight began. Ozai threw lighting, which surprised his wouldbe assassin until it summoned strange blades of fire from a metal stick and blocked a blast. It continued blocking until it got close enough.

Ozai didn't realize he'd been cut in half until his body fell apart.

Darth Maul watched his target fall, literally, to pieces before he turned to leave. Only to fall apart himself.  
>His killer? Prince Zuko with one of his primitive metal blades still extended and covered in flames.<br>He wondered why hadn't the Dark Side warned him as he died. A blue shaded old woman watched from nearby. She was the spirit of Avatar Roku's wife. She'd blocked the force senstive so that Zuko could stop his evil. Content, she returned to the afterlife.

* * *

><p>Ok, same warning as always: <strong>I proofed this myself at approx 2:20 AM Easter Daylight Savings Time. I am bound to have missed something.<strong>


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